Iran-linked hackers blamed for taking down U.K. power plant for first time, reports say
Iranian-linked hackers reportedly took a U.K. power plant offline in July, marking a significant escalation in cyber warfare against critical infrastructure. The attack utilized vulnerabilities in programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which are widely used in industrial and public systems.
Why it matters
The vulnerability of aging industrial control systems to cyberattacks poses a major threat to global critical infrastructure, including water, energy, and healthcare.
London - Iranian-affiliated hackers successfully but temporarily took a power plant offline in the United Kingdom, according to multiple British media outlets. The Telegraph and Financial Times reported the attack, which they say happened in July but is only now being reported, is believed to be the first time Iranian-linked hackers managed to shut down such a facility in the country.Of further concern, the breach also happened the same month Iranian-linked hackers are believed to have targeted the water systems of a dozen states including New Jersey, Minnesota, Georgia and South Dakota, locking out operators and causing pressure loss and flooding. CBS News reached out to the U.K.'s cybersecurity agency, the National Cyber Security Centre, but it neither confirmed nor denied any hacking had occurred.In both attacks, computers called "programmable logic controllers" were targeted, according to U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter in the U.K.
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