The Blackout Weapon: Could China Or Russia Turn Off America? PNW STAFF
America's enemies do not necessarily have to destroy our cities to cripple the country. They may only need to make those cities stop functioning.
That uncomfortable reality is coming into focus as Iranian-linked hackers threaten attacks against America's energy, water and telecommunications infrastructure, while lawmakers are simultaneously raising alarms about the potentially much larger threat posed by electromagnetic pulse weapons.
The two threats are very different, but they expose the same weakness: modern America is extraordinarily dependent upon interconnected systems, and when one fails, it can begin pulling others down with it.
Iran's hackers are providing a timely reminder.
A Telegram channel presenting itself as a voice for Iranian cyber operations recently issued an ominous warning: "Soon, the United States will witness unexpected and critical events in the energy, water, and telecommunications industries."
The threat comes as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue escalating. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford said Iran remains a persistent threat, particularly against America's critical infrastructure and cyber systems. Recent Iranian-linked attempts have reportedly targeted automated systems connected to the internet, although officials say the latest attacks have not produced major disruptions.
The danger is hardly theoretical.
CISA revealed in August that hackers had targeted more than 100 internet-exposed systems in America's water and wastewater sector during July. Federal agencies have separately warned about Iranian-affiliated actors exploiting programmable logic controllers used to operate physical machinery within critical infrastructure.
That should concern Americans, but hacking is only one potential method of attacking the systems upon which modern society depends.
There is another scenario that could be exponentially worse.
An electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, can be produced by a nuclear weapon detonated high above the Earth. Unlike a nuclear strike against a city, the primary objective would not necessarily be destroying buildings or killing people through the initial blast.
It would be attacking electronics and the electrical infrastructure supporting modern civilization.
Depending upon the weapon, altitude, location and other factors, electromagnetic effects could potentially disrupt electrical systems across an enormous geographic area. The Congressional Budget Office has previously noted that a high-altitude EMP could threaten telecommunications, transportation, food distribution, emergency response and banking in addition to the electrical grid itself, although experts disagree about the precise scale of damage that a particular attack would cause.
That uncertainty should not obscure the larger problem.
America has built an incredibly sophisticated society upon systems that increasingly cannot function without one another.
Imagine the electrical grid suffers widespread disruption.
The immediate problem is obvious: the lights go out.
But electricity is only the first domino.
Telecommunications require electricity. Cell towers have backup power, but batteries and generators do not operate indefinitely. Data centers, internet providers and communications networks begin encountering problems.
Water systems require electricity to operate pumps, treatment facilities and control systems. When power becomes unreliable, water pressure and treatment can eventually become unreliable as well.
Fuel distribution depends upon electricity and communications. Refineries, pipelines, terminals and gas stations require power. Even if millions of gallons of gasoline remain underground, motorists cannot simply access it when pumps do not work.
Transportation then begins suffering.
Without fuel, trucks cannot efficiently replenish grocery stores. Repair crews cannot easily reach damaged infrastructure. Emergency vehicles face logistical problems. Food warehouses and refrigeration systems require electricity, while stores increasingly struggle to process electronic payments.
Banking depends upon telecommunications and electricity. ATMs, credit-card processing, electronic banking and financial networks become increasingly difficult to access.
Hospitals have generators, but generators require fuel. Hospitals also depend upon functioning communications, water, pharmacies, medical suppliers and transportation networks.
The failure therefore moves through society like falling dominoes:
