Pak minister says cyber attack could be behind nationwide power breakdown

Pakistan's Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir said the government is probing the massive January 22 electricity outage across the country from different angles as the possibility of a cyberattack on the system cannot be ruled out.

"An inquiry will be completed very soon. Although there are very fewer chances, a cyberattack on the national grid cannot be ruled out," Dawn news quoted Dastgir as saying at a news conference.

The Minister said that a probe had been ordered immediately into the power breakdown, adding that a detailed report would soon be submitted to the ministry.

Last week, Dastgir had said that they have not been able to find out the reason behind the fault that caused the countrywide power breakdown, adding the federal government will also probe the possibility of "foreign intervention" into this, The News reported.

A major power breakdown caused by "frequency variation" in the transmission system, hit large areas of the country at around 7.30 in the morning on January 22.

The electricity wasn't fully restored till late at night, bringing life to a standstill in Pakistan as several cities were left without electricity.

"There are concerns, and have to be investigated if a foreign intervention was made via hacking our power distribution system," Dastagir had said.

The Minister said that the "possibility of foreign intervention through the internet is low", however, the matter will be probed as there have been multiple incidents recently, The News reported.

--IANS

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