Electricity Grid & Cybersecurity

‘Prepare for blackouts’: Miliband’s net zero revolution is a

hacker’s dream. Experts warn of a rising threat of cyber attacks from
hostile states on Britain’s grid. Laying out his vision for Great British
Energy last year, Ed Miliband was upbeat about the UK’s green future,
pledging to create a “secure energy system” to fuel homes with wind and
solar power. Energy security is a guiding principle of Miliband’s net
zero agenda, underpinning his rush to ditch fossil fuels – but for some
cyber security experts, there is a major blind spot in his promise to keep
Britain’s lights on. They say the complex energy grid he is building is
no longer an isolated system but one that is increasingly hooked up to the
internet – making it a tempting target for Britain’s enemies. A cyber
attack from a hostile state or hackers is an increasing probability because
of the increasing amount of tech and data used in Miliband’s green energy
push, they warn. Britain’s grid once linked just a few dozen large power
stations dotted around the country. Attacking them would have likely
involved a physical breach of the site. But now, Britain’s grid is
expanding with hundreds more generators connected to the system – and
connected to the internet. Each of those generators is potentially a
hackers dream, says Andreas Schierenbeck, the chief executive of Hitachi
Energy. Hitachi makes transformers for the UK grid. He warns that the
growing connectivity of every grid component and every generator risks
creating an open door for cyber terrorists. “Cyber-security [in power
grids] has become a major risk because it concerns the nerve centres of our
electricity networks,” he says. “No system is un-hackable, so we have
to prepare for the eventuality that there will be hacks and attacks. It is
not a question of if it will happen, it’s a question of when.”
Schierenbeck will tell world leaders gathered at the Munich Security
Conference this week, including Sir Keir Starmer, that all such systems are
vulnerable and are being increasingly targeted.

 Telegraph 9th Feb 2026 

 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/02/09/prepare-blackouts-miliband-net-zero-revolution-hacker-dream/