Blackout: The next day in Spain and Portugal – could it have been cyberattack?

The blackout in Spain and Portugal caused huge problems in the two countries, and areas of France were affected.

Many have attributed the blackout to a « rare atmospheric phenomenon », including energy managers in Spain and Portugal

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said this morning that 99.95% of energy demand has been restored to Spain, with 100% of the substations being back in operation as it was heading to another National Security Council meeting.

« We thank all the citizens who once again set an example of responsibility and social consciousness, » he said.

The Portuguese government has confirmed that electricity has been restored after Monday’s nationwide blackout.

The same is true of water supply throughout Portugal, while subway in Lisbon and Porto operate, although there are still some delays.

The Portuguese government is expected to meet later today.

Can the blackout been caused by cyberattack?

Although many have attributed the blackout to a « rare atmospheric phenomenon », among them energy managers in Spain and Portugal, others insist on the question of whether it has come from cyberattack.

Joe Taydi, a cyberattack expert, replied to Bbc That: « The simple answer is yes, it could be, as you can never say ‘never’ to cyberspace.

But it’s too early to say so, and it is much more likely that an accident or technical mistake has caused a power outage. « 

« If it is a cyberspace attack, it would be completely unprecedented on a scale and an impact. Electricity networks have been shut down in the past – in two cases we know.

Russian government funded hackers from a notoriously powerful hackers unit known as Sandworm are accused of causing a power outage in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of houses were left without electricity for hours in the cold winter of 2015. They themselves are accused of having a successful repetitive attack on the capital Kiev a year later, « he said.

« Both attacks shocked the cyberspace at that time and were extremely sophisticated, resulting in many months of work by the attackers.

However, they were identified and corrected within a few hours. If what is happening now was some kind of house, it would be a huge escalation of what was considered possible, « Taydi added.

Which areas were affected by the blackout.

What does Ree’s preliminary survey report in Spain

However, Ree, the Spanish electricity managing company, announced that the preliminary assessment of yesterday’s Blackout reasons excludes cyberattack.

Ree’s System Officer, Edward Prieto, said the electrical system is now stable and operates normally.

Persistent questions that remain

From Tuesday morning, both Spain and Portugal reported that power supply has almost returned to normal, with the network stabilized after the greater power failure in Europe’s recent history, writes Guardian.

« But for a continent so willing to talk about her efforts on energy security – with many leaders participating in a high -level summit on this issue just last week – there will be many persistent questions that need urgent answers, » the same text said.

How is it so easy to make a blackout that affects about 60 million people? What caused it? And, most importantly, can it be prevented from happening to such – or larger – scale?

Many will also study the misinformation and distortion of the causes or culprits behind the blackout, who managed to gain ground during the power outage, with the Spanish and the Portuguese government being forced to issue immediate warnings.

Although electricity has come back this morning, problems are likely to remain in airports, transport and elsewhere, as the British media points out.