Report: Iranian Cyberattack Shuts Down UK Power Station for Four Days

Hackers linked to the Iranian regime reportedly shut down a power station in the United Kingdom for four days, in what is shaping up to be one of the most serious cyberattacks ever carried out against the country’s energy infrastructure. The British newspaper The Telegraph reported this overnight, between Shabbat and Sunday. According to the report, this is believed to be the first time hackers linked to Tehran have succeeded in completely shutting down a facility of this kind in the UK.

The power station’s name and location were not released for security reasons. British officials confirmed that employees at the facility had to work for days to restore operations. However, the station is considered relatively small, so its shutdown did not disrupt the overall electricity supply or significantly affect energy production across the kingdom.

Experts believe the goal of the attack may not have been to cause widespread harm to civilians, but rather to send a message and demonstrate that hackers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can penetrate sensitive systems in Britain.

Following the incident, the British government briefed the chief executives of electricity companies and provided businesses with guidance and advice on the steps needed to protect against similar attacks. The case was also referred to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which operates as part of the GCHQ intelligence agency and helps companies and organizations responsible for infrastructure address threats originating from foreign states.

The NCSC declined to comment officially on the specific attack. However, the agency’s CEO, Richard Horne, said in June that the organization had handled more than 200 attacks targeting critical national infrastructure over the past year.

The incident in Britain was revealed after a series of cyberattacks against water infrastructure in the United States last month affected 12 states and raised concerns at the White House. The attacks on wastewater treatment facilities caused flooding and a loss of water pressure in taps, among other problems, and in some places authorities had to instruct residents to boil their water before drinking it.

The first reports of the attacks in the United States came from Minnesota on July 26. Similar breaches were later identified in Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, and New Jersey. The FBI attributed the incidents to “malicious cyber actors,” and U.S. administration officials later confirmed that the threat was believed to have originated in Tehran.

The latest developments come amid repeated warnings from intelligence agencies in Britain and the United States about cyber activity originating in Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. According to the warnings, actors linked to these countries attempt on a daily basis to harm infrastructure and government bodies.