Iran-linked hackers took U.K. power plant offline for first time, reports say
The attack happened the same month Iranian-linked hackers are believed to have targeted the water systems of a dozen U.S. states.
Updated on: August 24, 2026 / 2:19 PM EDT / CBS News
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.
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. Also known as PLCs, these are the brains of automated industrial systems found around the world that in large part span energy, water and manufacturing. But they are also used ubiquitously in hospitals to help supply power in blackouts, in chemical plants to control temperature and pressure to avoid explosions and in elevators and trains to control speed. PLCs are also employed to control prison security gates, in the timing of traffic light systems and in the activation of fire suppression systems.