During the morning hours, a marine turbine operator noticed that he was no longer able to gain access to his communication interface systems. The installation had been hacked, with the hackers introducing ransomware, a programme that encrypts the data stored on a server, making it unusable until ransom money is paid. Output from the turbine was halted. The facility operator subdued this threat by shutting down the server and then thoroughly cleaning the information system. Operations resumed 2 weeks later. The electrical network had not been disrupted: this incident occurred just a few days after connecting the turbine to the grid.

This marine turbine, submerged at a depth of 55 metres in the Fromveur Strait off France’s west coast, is connected by optical fibre to a control room located on the Isle of Ouessant. This room features a satellite connection for performing telemetry with the continent. The operator indicated that the backdoor used by hackers to access the network might have been a man-machine interface on a smartphone that allowed data to be displayed remotely.

Following this event, the operator installed a firewall, bolstered system security with technical subcontractors and removed the mobile interface.