A British power station was taken offline for four days following an unprecedented cyber attack carried out by hackers with links to Iran, according to new reports. The precise location of the facility has been withheld on security grounds, though sources told the Telegraph that the site was incapacitated "while staff fought to bring it back online" in the wake of the attack.
Small-scale site unaffected wider grid
It is understood that the targeted plant was not among the nation's largest energy sites. Given its comparatively modest scale, the shutdown had no knock-on effect on Britain's broader power supply or energy output. The incident is believed to have occurred in July, coinciding with a string of attacks targeting US water infrastructure across 12 states, which raised significant alarm at the White House.
Government response and guidance
In the aftermath, the Government briefed energy company chief executives and issued written guidance to businesses outlining advice and recommended next steps.
A Government source told the Telegraph: "We have thresholds for important generators to legally notify us of cyber activity, and this site is nowhere near. It's a very small scale site, less than a rounding error compared to grid capacity."
A Government spokesman said: "The UK has a highly resilient energy system. We work closely with the energy sector to protect infrastructure and ensure the highest security standards. 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."
