European Commission has no evidence of cyberattack in the blackout in Portugal and Spain

The Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera, stated that there is currently no evidence of a cyberattack in the massive power outage in the Iberian Peninsula, although she referred to it as “one of the biggest failures in the system” in the European Union (EU).
“We are not ruling anything out at the moment, but there is no evidence of any kind of cybersecurity issue. We are monitoring everything, and the main priority is, obviously, to restore the electrical system and assess and understand what happened,” the official responsible for the Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition portfolio in the community executive, Teresa Ribera, declared to the press in Brussels.
According to the official, this was “one of the biggest failures in the electrical system that has occurred in recent years” in the EU.
Teresa Ribera said she is “monitoring what is happening” and in “close contact with the Spanish and Portuguese authorities, as well as with the various services of the Commission,” in a situation that, she said, only affects the Iberian Peninsula and, perhaps by extension, a small part of southern France.
“For now, what I can say is that we need to be cautious and patient so that the system can be restored as quickly as possible,” she urged.
According to Teresa Ribera, “in the case of Portugal, [the national authorities] disconnected their electrical system from the Spanish system to gradually recover it.”
These statements from Ribera come after the European Commission indicated on Monday that it is in contact with the authorities of Portugal and Spain and with the European network of operators to understand the cause and impact of the massive power outage in the Iberian Peninsula.
“We are in contact with the national authorities of Portugal and Spain, as well as with ENTSO-E [European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity] to understand the underlying cause and the impact of the situation,” an official source from the community executive told the Lusa agency.
“The Commission will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that the exchange of information between all relevant parties proceeds smoothly,” the same official source added.
Brussels also reminded that there are “protocols to restore the functioning of the system,” as provided for in the community legislation regarding emergency networks and restoration.
On Monday morning, at 11:30 Lisbon time, several cities from north to south of Portugal experienced a power failure, which has since been restored and affected Spain and southern France.