The blackout in Spain raised the possibility of a cyber attack. The EU rules out

He General blackout throughout Spain has caused great uncertainty about the potential causes of this “Energy zero”. One of those that are considered is that of a possible cyber attack, and agencies such as the National or Incibe Cryptological Center are investigating that option, they point out in the SER or In the country. In the last decade there has only been a great case of this type.

The EU discards cyber attack. As media point out Like the worldTeresa Ribera, executive vice president for the clean, fair and competitive transition, has indicated that “there is nothing that allows us to affirm that there is some kind of boycott or cyber attack.” In his appearance before the media, Pedro Sánchez stressed that the causes of the incident are not yet known and does not rule out any option.

Few outstanding cases. On December 23, 2016, the Ivano-Frankivsk region, in southwest Ukraine, He suffered a blackout as a consequence of a coordinated cyber attack that affected three of the main Ukrainian electricity companies in the region. The problem affected tens of thousands of people for a period between three and six hours. The following year a more sophisticated cyber attack caused a blackout again that affected kyiv residents, also in Ukraine. The country has been affected by blackouts after the Russian invasion after the attacks of Sandworm, a cybercrime unit associated with Russian intelligence, indicated in Tarlogic.

But having them, there are. In November 2023, a series of coordinated cyber attacks affected the Denmark Energy Sectoralthough there were no blackouts but data theft. Tarlogic experts highlighted how these types of problems have increased. None, yes, has affected an almost complete country, as would have happened in this case.

Usual suspects. In June 2019 A great blackout It affected 48 million people in Argentina and Uruguay. At that time there were suspicions of a potential cyberraade as the cause of the problems, but the Argentine government Indian that the cut was due to a failure in one of the transport systems from one of its hydroelectric plants in Yacryátá. It is therefore relatively frequent to associate such an event with a potential cybersecurity problem.

And then, Stuxnet. What we know is how eeuu and Israel created Stuxnet malware In the second half of the 2000s. This malware managed to damage Iran’s critical infrastructures, specifically Its nuclear power plants And that showed that certain cyber attacks can be directed to critical infrastructure.

The possibility is there. As they pointed out in 2019 in El Confidencial, Spain in fact already tried to prepare for this type of event. Experts like Rubén Santamarta They had warned of that risk already in 2011. During the blackout the National Cryptological Center (CNI) has indicated that the blackout could be a consequence of a cyber attack, According to the reason.

Spain usually receives threats of this type. The National Center for Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Protection (CNPIC), under the Ministry of Interior, indicated in El Confidencial In 2019 that there were already “attempts at illicit accesses to this type of infrastructure.” From the country They pointed out a few months ago how Spain receives about 40,000 daily threats of diverse type.

One more option, but just that. There are no data that can point to a cyber attack and therefore although the possibility is there, there is no confirmation. The blackout is exceptional and extraordinary, as indicated by Red Electrica and Spanish, which of course is also investigating what the origin of the problem has been.

Image | Markus Spiske

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