Massive Power Outage Hits Spain and Portugal Amid Claims by Pro-Russian Hacker Groups
Widespread Blackouts Rock Iberia and France
A sweeping and unexplained power outage has crippled large swaths of Spain and Portugal today, with reports also emerging from parts of southern France. The blackout began around midday, disrupting everything from public transport to emergency services. As of now, no official cause has been confirmed, but speculation is mounting over a potential cyberattack.
Spain’s meteorological agency has stated there were no unusual atmospheric conditions at the time of the outage, further deepening the mystery.
Hacktivist Groups Claim Responsibility
Shortly after the outages began, two well-known cybercriminal collectives—Dark Storm Team and NoName057—claimed responsibility on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter). The groups posted links to supposedly compromised Portuguese government networks, along with mocking messages like:
"Isn't it funny to cut off electricity to countries from home?"— @DarkstormTeam1 on X
Their messages included links to Check-Host.net reports that suggest website and service disruptions for several Portuguese ministries, including:
- Ministry of the Interior
- Ministry of Justice
- Ministry of Environment and Climate Action
- The Presidency of the Council of Ministers
Check-Host data shows these services were either down or experiencing degraded performance at the time of posting.
A New Era of Infrastructure Sabotage?
Although no state actor has been officially named, the alignment of NoName057—a known pro-Russian hacktivist group—with Dark Storm Team, raises questions. NoName057 has previously been linked to operations targeting NATO-affiliated nations and institutions critical of Russian foreign policy.
While no technical confirmation exists that today’s blackout was directly caused by a cyberattack, the implications are chilling. The attack, if verified, would mark one of the most significant digital assaults on civilian infrastructure in Europe since the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware incident in the United States, which disrupted fuel supplies across the East Coast.
Questions That Need Answers
- Could a DDoS attack or deeper network breach really take down power grids?
- Are these events a warning signal of escalated cyberwarfare against NATO states?
Officials across Europe have yet to formally respond to the cyberattack claims, and investigations are underway. Meanwhile, the public remains in the dark—both literally and figuratively.