Iberian blackout: Cyberattack is not to blame – but the threat to power grids is real. Here’s why

Millions of people across Spain and Portugal experienced a major power outage on Monday, causing significant travel disruptions and bringing much of the economy to a standstill.

The sudden blackout led many private and public sector experts, including top government officials, to question whether the disruption could have been caused by a cyberattack. Spain’s top criminal court, for instance, quickly announced that it was probing the possibility of an “act of cyber sabotage against critical Spanish infrastructure.”

On Tuesday, after power came back online across the Iberian Peninsula, Spain’s electricity grid operator Red Eléctrica said its early investigation showed “no intrusion” into the system. European Council President Antonio Costa also noted on X that so far there were no indications of a cyberattack. Nonetheless, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has stressed that there is “no hypothesis being ruled out” with regards to the cause of the blackouts.

While preliminary findings by energy providers may have excluded a cyberattack, the incident underscores the persistent threat that cyberattacks pose to critical energy infrastructure.

Read more: World Economic Forum