Iran-linked Cyberattackers Shut Down a UK Power Plant for Four Days (bbc.co.uk) 37
"Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack," reports the Telegraph.
More details from the BBC: The government said that at no point was there a risk to the UK's energy system, but the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has contacted power companies to advise them about the risk of cyber attacks... DESNZ said the incident had affected a small-scale generator and at no point had there been a risk to the wider energy system. The UK's power network has a number of smaller gas generators which provide short-term power when needed.
Thanks to Alain Williams (Slashdot reader #2,972) for sharing the news.
More details from the BBC: The government said that at no point was there a risk to the UK's energy system, but the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has contacted power companies to advise them about the risk of cyber attacks... DESNZ said the incident had affected a small-scale generator and at no point had there been a risk to the wider energy system. The UK's power network has a number of smaller gas generators which provide short-term power when needed.
Thanks to Alain Williams (Slashdot reader #2,972) for sharing the news.
Suuuure (Score:3)
Re: Suuuure (Score:4, Informative)
One small scale generator does not a system make.
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Why would they give a warning? The result will be increased security at more valuable targets.
Most likely some bored kid who doesn't have any geo-political motivation.
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You're assuming the brilliant minds who designed the security of the small generator weren't also designing the big ones. The statement there was no risk, was not that there was no risk, just that the attackers didn't demonstrate they were being a risk at the time. Who knows what systems they could have gotten into. Maybe we should be sending them thankyou cards for showing restraint.
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It makes a great test target before a larger, more coordinated attack happens, though.
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This reads like fake news (Score:5, Informative)
This seems to be propaganda : There's absolutely no independent source, this seems to originate from some gossip by an official in UK's government, sourcing it to the NCSC (a branch of GCHQ), who in turn declined to comment.
The Telegraph heavily uses "it is understood that..." which hints that they were giving very vague information that they're in no way able to confirm.
Also, about Slashdot's summary: there's no more details from the BBC, they're basically pointing to The Telegraph's article.
Re:This reads like fake news (Score:4, Interesting)
If something like this event was indeed false reputable sites would not be mentioning it.
Looks like we've got massive vote moderation manipulation on Slashdot again. I guess inevitable when someone mentions "Iran" since they have an online propaganda operation almost as big as Russia and China do. All the sane takes downvoted. Just simply wrong (as maladroit mentions) takes upvoted because they make people feel uncertain.
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The BBC directly attributes some information to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which indicates they may have been able to confirm some of it.
Re:This reads like fake news (Score:4, Interesting)
This seems to be propaganda : There's absolutely no independent source, this seems to originate from some gossip by an official in UK's government, sourcing it to the NCSC (a branch of GCHQ), who in turn declined to comment.
The Telegraph heavily uses "it is understood that..." which hints that they were giving very vague information that they're in no way able to confirm.
Most press accounts follow this same pattern. You never know who the source is and you have to trust the press is not full of shit. The quote from the government source seems to imply more than gossip as they are seemingly aware of what plants were impacted:
"A government source said: 'We have thresholds for important generators to legally notify us of cyber activity, and this site is nowhere near. Itâ(TM)s a very small-scale site, less than a rounding error compared to grid capacity.' "
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Especially since it's not clear what's in it for Iran. They're not at war with UK, but they are at war with US, so wouldn't a US power plant make a lot more sense as a target? Afaik during the course of this war so far Iran has only attacked targets belonging to either US and Israel or to the neighbouring Gulf nations. OTOH this government has been known to use foreign policy as a distraction to domestic problems, as have a lot of governments. Add to this that The Telegraph is known to, let's just say, not
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Especially since it's not clear what's in it for Iran. They're not at war with UK, but they are at war with US
They hit what they can. Iran has attacked or threatened many countries, including the UK [bbc.com].
It's understandable. If I were the head of the Islamist regime in Iran, I would be trying to build up nuclear weapons that could hit America as quickly as possible.
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But this isn't about a missile attack. A power plant in US should be just as easy to hack as a power plant in UK. I bet some idiot pressed a wrong button or something or they deployed cool new software which hasn't been tested very much, and then they decided to blame this on the Iran boogeyman instead.
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As for the rest of your post, I agree, it doesn't seem likely this was a hacking attempt, and attribution evidence is missing.
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We deserve better psyops.
If the reporter had read Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent they could have done a better job but let's not give them any ideas.
BBC has always been in the business of narrative construction in service of the powerful to control the population.
And also Benny Hill.
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It is always propaganda but usually inspired by real events. In this case even that is not sure.
Good, it will help reveal exploits ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack
Good, it will help reveal exploits sooner rather than later. Better now than in a more serious conflict involving Russia or China.
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I can't wrap my head around how or why that could still happen, let alone that it does. Why the hell would they expose anything to the internet? They don't need any internet connectivity, not even through a VPN.
Probably, a senior executive wanted a dashboard widget that showed real time status — or something like that.
"unprecedented cyber attack" (Score:2)
"unprecedented cyber attack" - yeah right, pretty run of the mill today given the lack of guardrails installed.
Meaning (Score:1)
Israeli linked.
Take critical infrastructure off the net. (Score:3)
Wanting total internet connectivity is a sign of utter ignorance, and that ignorance is a choice.
Make ignorance shameful again.
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Oh man you would eat your words if you ever worked in the power generation industry. Protip: We don't run the electrical grid like we did in the early 90s anymore. The grid functions now largely because the entire system is networked together and because engineers have instant oversight. If you want more power outages that last far longer than today, then sure, take things offline. Just don't be the one who complains that when a local breaker trips or a local generator is offline that you're sitting in the