Cyber Attack: The Threat to America in the Age of Cyber Warfare and Internet Terrorism

On a hot day in mid-summer, at a time when electrical power demand is typically at its peak, abruptly and without warning, the lights go out. A transformer, an integral part of distributing electricity, has failed, an event that happens frequently as a result of an aging infrastructure. Other transformers are configured to take up the load until they too mysteriously fail. One by one, the increased demand on still operating portions of the system fail. The transformers, costly to replace and with a lead time of 18 – 36 months to acquire and install, have been damaged beyond repair. There is no power for that time. Radio, television and Internet communication – all dependent on electricity – are unavailable. Cell phones operate for up to a few days before they too, without the power to charge their hungry batteries, fade to silence.

There is no power to operate gasoline pumps, hence there is soon no fuel. Driving would be inadvisable anyway with no power to operate traffic signals. Those who do attempt to drive will soon encounter gridlock. Perishable foods, without electricity to cool them, soon perish. Purchasing additional foods will be impossible as point of sales systems in stores become inoperable. Without power banks will be forced to close. ATMs will not work. Security systems will not work, and crime will be nearly impossible to control. As days follow into weeks and months the strain on emergency services will reach the breaking point.

An event in which nine – yes, nine – interconnection substations are destroyed across the United States would cause a complete disruption of electrical services in the contiguous 48 states, leading to the scenario described, and much worse. The odds of nine substations going down at once are high, unless it is considered how vulnerable they are to attack. A physical attack is more difficult in times of heightened awareness of terrorist activity. But an attack via the Internet, which connects them all and is the path through which many of the components of the power grid are operated is possible, to many even probable. Similar catastrophic attacks on the nation’s dams and waterways, its financial industry, transportation and shipping industries, and virtually the entire infrastructure, which are interconnected via the Internet, are occurring daily.

When a cyber attack happens, are you and your family safe?