From White Paper: Safety within the North American Energy Grid – A Nation at Threat, George Cotter former Chief of Staff, Nationwide Safety Agency.
If the above quote would not ship shivers down your backbone, then at the least take into account the supply. There isn’t a extra certified that George Cotter. Not solely is Mr. Cotter the previous NSA Chief of Staff however he additionally served as its chief scientist and twice as head of its know-how division.
Let’s research the quote a bit of extra carefully. Mr. Cotter begins by mentioning that adversaries of the US have already got inserted their virus malware into our nationwide energy grid. In different writings by Mr. Cotter he makes it clear that China, Russia and Iran are the chief culprits. North Korea lurks however is just not but in the identical league as the primary three.
He goes on to level out our nation has little to no probability of withstanding a serious cyberattack on our electrical grid system. America has a 3 half grid: east, west and Texas. The weakest hyperlinks are the smaller energy corporations. All three grids are interconnected. Have an effect on one energy company and the potential exists to take down a third of the nation or extra for weeks if not months.
Let’s assume for a second how huge open the communications system is n the US. The web, phone, cable and satellite tv for pc methods all contact our lives each day. All are powered by electrical energy. Add a nasty actor into the combination with motive, alternative, experience and the endurance to execute a plan and you’ve got the recipe for what is probably going going to occur. The one query stays, will it occur right this moment or in ten years? It is onerous to think about it taking one other ten years!