Judge Calama Teixeira investigates possible computer sabotage following a Blackout that hit critical infrastructure in Spain, declaring the proceedings secret to protect the ongoing investigation.
The judge of the Audiencia Nacional (AN), José Luis Calama Teixeira, who is investigating whether the Blackout in the Spanish power grid on Monday may have been an act of computer sabotage against critical infrastructure, the investigation has declared secret.
In an order, the magistrate accepted the request of the Prosecutor's Office, stating that this decision aims to "prevent a situation that could seriously compromise the outcome of the investigation".
“Only in this way will it be possible to prevent knowledge of the results of the investigations ordered from giving rise to interference or manipulation aimed at hindering the investigation and frustrating its objectives, taking into account the possible existence of sensitive information that could compromise the safety of essential services”, he justified.
On Tuesday, the judge ordered an investigation, stating that although the cause of the event is currently unknown, “cyberterrorism is among the possibilities” hypothesis. Consequently, according to the magistrate, it was necessary to open a judicial investigation.
In this context, he arranged as first acts the acquisition of a report from the National Cryptology Center and by Red Eléctrica, requesting that they indicate the causes of the incident within an unextendable period of 10 days. Blackout. Likewise, Judge Calama has requested a preliminary report from the Police Information Directorate, also within 10 days, on the events that occurred on Monday throughout Spain.
The magistrate explained that the incident occurred on Monday around 12:30 p.m. and affected computer systems that support essential infrastructures for society, such as health, energy, industry or transport, generating "a critical situation for the well-being and sense of security of all citizens."
The order included the government's explanation that “they were lost” suddenly for 5 seconds 15 gigawatts of the energy being produced at that moment, equal to 60% of the electricity consumed, “something that had never happened before".
Who is the magistrate in charge of the investigation?
José Luis Calama Teixeira, judge at the Central Court of Instruction No. 4 of the National Court.
He entered the judiciary in 1988 and has since had a brilliant career in the sector. He joined the National Court in December 2018, succeeding Fernando Andreu.
Calama Teixeira has dealt with several important macro-cases. Among them is the investigation into the Pegasus case, which involved the espionage of high-ranking officials of the Spanish government.
“Cascading Safety” Problems
The head of the Fourth Central Court of Instruction explained that, under Article 573 of the Criminal Code, cybercrimes can be considered terrorism if they are aimed at seriously destabilizing the constitutional order or the functioning of essential services.
In his order, the judge examined national and European legislation on the protection of critical infrastructure and the fight against cyberterrorism, noting that in Spain the legislator has included this phenomenon among the crimes of terrorism.
In particular, Article 573.2 applies “in the event that the origin of the facts can be traced back to the methods and purposes provided for by this provision”.
Calama also stressed that “society is increasingly based on a complex system of infrastructures on which the productive sectors, the management of services, the financial system and city life in general are based”.
“These infrastructures are interdependent, which can trigger cascading security problems within the system itself, with the possibility of causing serious and unexpected failures in essential services for the population, as happened yesterday”, he added.
In fact, the magistrate stated, “these infrastructures are particularly attractive to terrorism, due to the serious damage they can cause to the population”.
Il Blackout in Ukraine in 2016 as an example
The magistrate recalled that “The National Cryptology Center’s 2017 Cyber Threat and Trends Report stated that the greatest danger is represented by attacks from foreign states”.
“This is what happened in the case of the cyber attacks on Ukrainian electricity companies that, in 2016, caused a blackout leaving millions of people without electricity”he stressed.
Photo: Some streets of Madrid are lit up again after the Blackout massive.
In this line, Judge Calama reiterated that “terrorist groups seek to exploit vulnerabilities in cyberspace to carry out cyber attacks”.
“Closely linked to this is the threat to critical infrastructure, with the real possibility of causing a collapse across networks through a cascading collapse of essential services”, he concluded. Furthermore, he highlighted in his provision “the case known as the 'police virus', due to the dynamics followed by cybercriminals, in which several Russian citizens were tried who, since 2011, had attacked users in various countries, with over 300 victims in Spain alone”.
Don't let your guard down
Many, even in Italy, have rushed to accept the version that excludes any hypothesis of a cyber-attack behind the Blackout. A choice that smacks of convenient silence, especially at a time when every possible way is being sought to force a peace agreement in Ukraine, even at the cost of ignoring uncomfortable realities. But silence does not change the facts: Russia has a long history of unconventional attacks and, beyond what will emerge from the official Spanish investigations, it remains today a real, concrete and imminent threat to the security of the West.
Photo: web
