Hacking

Recent power outages in Turkey were also caused by cyber attacks

People walk on Taksim square during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 7, 2017. A heavy snowstorm paralysed life in Istanbul with hundreds of flights cancelled and the Bosphorus closed to shipping traffic. The snowstorm dumped almost 40 centimetres (16 inches) of snow in parts of the Turkish metropolis overnight, causing havoc on roads as travellers sought to leave the city for the weekend getaway. / AFP PHOTO / YASIN AKGUL

Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak believes that power outages in Istanbul and other areas in Turkey have also been caused by cyber attacks.

According to Turkish Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Istanbul and other areas in Turkey have been experiencing power outages since last week. The power outages were caused by sabotage of underground powerlines and cyberattacks originating in the US.

“Yesterday, we faced an intense, US-originated cyber attack. These attacks have been carried out systematically on different parts of the Energy Ministry, but we have repelled them all,” explained the Turkish Energy Minister in an interview with A Haber TV.

The technicians discovered sabotage of underground lines in three districts of Istanbul in concomitance of adverse weather conditions.

People walk on Taksim square during snowfalls in Istanbul on January 7, 2017.
A heavy snowstorm paralysed life in Istanbul with hundreds of flights cancelled and the Bosphorus closed to shipping traffic. The snowstorm dumped almost 40 centimetres (16 inches) of snow in parts of the Turkish metropolis overnight, causing havoc on roads as travellers sought to leave the city for the weekend getaway. / AFP PHOTO / YASIN AKGUL

In a first time, the Energy Ministry reported the power outages were caused by damage to the power grid caused by the snow.

Recently, a source in the ministry confirmed to the state news agency Anadolu that the problems were also caused by cyber attacks.

“Many infiltration attempts to the systems controlling our transmission and electricity producing lines were determined and prevented. The infiltration attempts are indicators of a major sabotage preparation against Turkey’s national electricity network,” the anonymous source told the agency.

The Turkish Government continues to accuse US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen of using a wide network of supporters in Turkey to undermine the country’s stability.

Gulen denies any accusations and the US refuses to comply the Turkish request for his extradition.

Some prominent experts believe that Turkish authorities are facing with sabotage and problems to legacy infrastructure using “cyber” as a scapegoat for the situation.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – power outages, hacking)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.