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Fue ayer cuando atacaron el servidor.

Fue ayer cuando atacaron el servidor.
It was yesterday when they attacked the server.
From Lesson 343:Emphasizing information (fue... quien)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Fue ayer cuando atacaron el servidor.

Why do we use Fue instead of Es at the beginning of the sentence?
In Spanish cleft sentences, the verb ser usually matches the tense of the action being described. Since the attack happened in the past (atacaron, preterite), we use the preterite form Fue (It was). If the action were happening right now, we would use Es.
Could I use que instead of cuando in this sentence?
Yes. While cuando is the most precise word because ayer is a time reference, it is extremely common in spoken Latin American Spanish to just use que as a universal connector in these structures. You will frequently hear Fue ayer que atacaron el servidor.
Why is atacaron in the plural "they" form if we don't know who did it?
Using the third-person plural (atacaron) is a standard way to express an impersonal action in Spanish when the doer is unknown or irrelevant. It works just like the English impersonal "they" (as in "they robbed the bank"), serving as a natural active alternative to the passive voice.
Can I reverse the order of the sentence and still keep the emphasis?
Absolutely. You can place the relative clause first to create a slightly different cleft structure: Cuando atacaron el servidor fue ayer (When they attacked the server was yesterday). This still puts the spotlight firmly on the fact that it happened yesterday.

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