While it is still unclear what exactly was behind the recent shutdown of a small British power plant, most fingers are pointing to hackers linked to Iran as being responsible for the incident.
First reported by The Telegraph, the attack reportedly took place at the same time Iranian hackers were targeting water systems throughout the United States.
The plant was, however, a small one, and the incident did not have a wider impact.
“This story refers to an incident impacting a small-scale energy generator, and at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system,” a government spokesperson said in a widely reported statement.
“The UK has a highly resilient energy system. We work closely with the energy sector to protect infrastructure and ensure the highest security standards.”
The UK government has not laid any official blame as yet, however, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps recently said that any country aiding the US in its attacks on the country would be considered a legitimate target. Several British airbases have housed US aircraft since the strikes on Iran began earlier in the year, although no offensive operations have been launched from UK bases.
That, however, is a fine distinction that the IRGC may not choose to recognise.
Trevor Dearing, Senior Director of Critical Infrastructure at Illumio, said the point of most concern was that this activity caused a four-day shutdown despite repeated warnings from governments and cyber security agencies around the world – including in the UK – warning of just such malicious targeting.
“The saving grace is that the attacker hit a small plant rather than one capable of disrupting the wider UK energy system,” Dearing told Cyber Daily.
“Cyberattacks are increasingly part of geopolitical conflict, and the energy sector is particularly vulnerable. Ageing infrastructure combined with increasingly connected IT, operational technology and smarter grids creates more entry points for attackers and greater potential for disruption.”
Dearing added that operators of essential services need to bake cyber security into their infrastructure.
“Compliance must be much more specific on visibility, secure connectivity, and the use of secure industrial protocols,” Dearing said.
“Every operator needs to be able to keep systems running, recover quickly and maintain essential services under constant attack.”
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