Electricity supply emerges as prime cyber attack target – German security agency

Germany’s electricity supply infrastructure increasingly represents a target for cyber attacks, Claudia Plattner, president of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), told Funke Mediengruppe.

“Energy supply in Germany is becoming more decentralised,” Plattner argued. Smaller power plants like wind turbines are being installed across the country, and they are “often less well protected against attackers than large power plants,” she said. Additionally, electricity supply is becoming more digitalised. “We need this modernisation, but we need to protect it well,” said Plattner.

Protecting critical energy infrastructure not just against physical sabotage – as happened with the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 – but also against cyber attacks has become a major issue, especially since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, its weaponization of energy, and escalating tensions with Europe. The threat applies to all kinds of green technologies, from electric vehicles to solar PV.

“Russia currently poses the most urgent and immediate threat to Germany's cyber security” overall, said Plattner. However, Germany is currently being targeted by several other states as well, including China, North Korea and Iran. “Germany is an attractive target – for both economic and geopolitical reasons,” said Plattner.