Iranian hackers shut down UK power plant for 4 days(www.telegraph.co.uk)
58 pointsby giuliomagnifico6 hours ago14 comments
  • donohoe2 hours ago
    Anything from the Telegraph should be treated as suspect and an alternative source should be found.
    • zipy124an hour ago
      The BBC reported on it many many hours ago at the same time [1] with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirming there was an incident.

      [1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9793g34yvo

      • alborzban hour ago
        Actually if you read your own link - the BBC is just saying that the Telegraph reported this.

        And the same BBC article says that the Telegraph reported it as "the power plant was shut down for four days", whereas on the other hand, the UK Government DESNZ said it only "affected a small-scale generator" not even an entire power plant.

        It's always difficult in these situations to read through the FUD and see what the truth is.

    • guiriduroan hour ago
      This point cannot be overstated - famously the Torygraph for its stance should always have been treated with a degree of scepticism under former editors but such journalistic standards it ever had are now long and completely defunct. A rubbish-laden agitprop comic.
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  • throwaw12an hour ago
    Coming soon:

    * Iran caused fall of German manufacturing

    * Iranian investors caused housing shortage in Netherlands

    * Iranians are pushing French to protest against pension age reforms

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  • CrzyLngPwd3 hours ago
    That reads like a scare story for MPs so they approve more money to some dodgy outfit that will save us all from the ever growing axis of evil...again.
    • goaliecaan hour ago
      This is greatly downplaying the hacking that has been made public, hasn’t been made public, and is continuously ongoing. Water treatment plants just publicly got hit in Canada and USA.

      The simple truth right now is that China, Iran, and North Korea, are actively hacking out companies and infrastructure. It’s a sort of Cold War.

    • michaeltan hour ago
      Those same MPs decided, for example, that it should be mandatory for EV chargers to be internet connected.

      They could do with a dose of reality, IMHO.

    • zerozerotwo18 minutes ago
      You know Iran itself refers its own side as the axis right?
  • neves2 hours ago
    If I were an incompetent manager that need to oversee crumble infrastructure, I'd like to blame my problems on evil hackers from the other side of the world.

    This story does not look real.

    • edgyquant2 hours ago
      In what way does it not look real? On the contrary a significant portion of the population seems to be totally swooned by Iranian propaganda and is not aware they are a malicious actor and have been for decades conducting much worse things on foreign soil than hacks
      • hnlmorgan hour ago
        I don’t think anyone in the west are swooned by Iran. Heck, a lot of Iranians aren’t even swooned by the Iranian propaganda.

        What I think you’re doing is misinterpreting the wests disgust at Trumps war with Iran as favouring Iran when in fact what we actually feel is disdain for both parties.

      • surgical_firean hour ago
        It's more that a lot of people stopeed being swooned by US propaganda, and woke up to the fact that the US is a malicious actor and have been for decades, conducting much worse things on foreign soil than hacks.

        I, personally, have a lot more mistrust towards the US than I have towards Iran. Mostly because Iran has very limited power to affect me negatively.

      • madaxe_againan hour ago
        You mean like stuxnet?

        Oh, wait…

  • sajithdilshan2 hours ago
    Why would a power plant system be exposed to internet in the first place
    • tsimionescu12 minutes ago
      Because power plants need to coordinate to serve the grid, and there is currently a single Interconnected Network of computers out there. Would it be a good idea to create a secondary network for power control and similar critical functions, completely isolated from the internet and from any outside countries? Perhaps - but it doesn't even seem to be on the horizon for now.
    • seydor2 hours ago
      DRM license verification
    • wongarsu2 hours ago
      There are plenty of reports that this happens and at least as of a couple years ago wasn't even that uncommon. Including CCC talks. People want to do remote maintenance, and apparently not everyone has a good enough internal IT to put this traffic on a VPN
      • ndsipa_pomu22 minutes ago
        I find it difficult to believe that a power plant doesn't have enough resources to employ at least one person who could implement a VPN - even if it's just some cousin of a senior manager.
        • tsimionescu11 minutes ago
          A VPN is not some foolproof system that guarantees you can't be hacked. If you're connected to the internet, people can probe your systems. Heck, Stuxnet proved they can do it even if you aren't.
    • Gys2 hours ago
      To enable work from home?
      • goda902 hours ago
        I would hope critical infrastructure would have someone on site 24/7. The Internet could go out, roads blocked, and weather too dangerous for a helicopter and you'd still want power to flow. If people want to work remotely, they could have a human-bridged air gap where change instructions are followed by someone on-site.
        • toast028 minutes ago
          I don't know about power plants, but for critical water infrastructure, there's usually not even a building for someone to sit in 24/7 and at least 99% of the time there would be nothing for them to do.
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      • pjc502 hours ago
        More likely windows updates.

        Serious answer: there's a big plan to network everything for metrology purposes. At the very least feeding real time frequency, voltage and phase information from every point of interest on the grid into a big dashboard.

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  • sivakonan hour ago
    Telegraph.co.uk is a tabloid rage bait publication that produces propaganda. Until there are more sources, this should be considered fake news.
  • pjmlp3 hours ago
    Let me guess, SCADA system is somehow accessible from outside.
  • claxoan hour ago
    Gives "Not found." now. Maybe retired?
  • NordStreamYacht2 hours ago
    What goes around, comes around. What was the name of the SCADA hack dropped via USB drives in Iranian parking lots which brought down their centrifuges?

    Stuxnet.

  • ktallett2 hours ago
    It is either the fact most major infrastructure in the UK seems to be run on computer systems introduced by a man with no knowledge and struggles to turn on a computer. Or it is the start of a UK government attempt to reduce freedoms by stating look there are naughty terrorists out there that will do harm to the UK if we don't restrict programs and usage of systems.

    I imagine the former, but it will be used for the latter.

    • logotype2 hours ago
      Both can be true at the same time.
  • benj1112 hours ago
    The timing of this seems weird. The UK uses much more energy in the winter, so this isn't going to bring the grid down or anything.

    This just seems like a wasted attack, alerting us to the vulnerability.

  • jmyeet32 minutes ago
    The media is trying to manufacturer consent for a deeply unpopular war of choice that has already been lost. That's so weird. Why would Iran do this? They've already won.

    Nothing will change the fact that this war has been a complete strategic defeat for the US and its allies. This is the beginning of the end of dismantling the world order created by the US for the benefit of the US after 1945. That's how this will be written about in history books.

    • mupuff123412 minutes ago
      Did iran win? Their economy is on the brink of collapse, and countries are investing in infrastructure to bypass the strait.

      And sure oil prices have gone up, but not doomsday scenario prices.

      A bit of a pyrrhic victory if you insist on defining that as a victory.

  • alexthedigger2 hours ago
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  • recursivedoubts2 hours ago
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