Key facts
- Hackers linked to Iran are blamed for a cyber-attack that shut down a small UK power plant.
- The power plant was offline for four days.
- The UK government stated the incident posed no risk to the wider energy system.
- The National Cyber Security Centre warned of increased targeting of UK services by hostile states.
- The incident occurred amid heightened geopolitical tensions between the UK, US, and Iran.
Hackers linked to the Iranian regime are blamed for a cyberattack that shut down a small UK power plant for four days last month. The incident, described as the first successful infiltration of a UK energy facility by Iranian-affiliated hackers, did not affect the country's wider power supply or energy generation.
The UK government stated that the energy facility is a 'small scale energy generator' and that the incident posed no risk to the nation's energy system. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is updating cybersecurity regulations and the energy resilience strategy in response.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned that hostile states, including Iran, China, and Russia, are increasingly targeting systems behind the UK's key services. In March, the NCSC raised concerns over cyber security threats from Iran-linked hackers, advising UK organisations to prepare for potential collateral impacts. The NCSC chief executive noted that three-quarters of cyberattacks affecting critical infrastructure in the year to May were linked to hostile states.
This incident occurred concurrently with a series of attacks on US water infrastructure affecting 12 American states and amid heightened geopolitical tensions between the UK, US, and Iran. The attack appears to mark an escalation following the UK's decision to grant the US permission to launch 'defensive operations' against Iran from British bases.