We live at a time when we are facing a relentless wave of AI cyberattacks, and they are becoming insanely sophisticated. On Monday, refrigeration units in supermarkets all over Europe were successfully attacked. But I am not going to talk about that today. In this article, I am going to talk about the sort of AI cyberattack that could turn off your electricity for an extended period of time. This is not a theoretical threat. Hackers have been repeatedly attacking Internet-exposed programmable logic controllers in recent months, and a successful attack could potentially plunge a large portion of the country into darkness right in the middle of the winter.
Evaluating these types of threats is what GovAI does.
It is literally their job.
So perhaps we should pay attention when GovAI tells us that a single AI cyberattack “could cut off power to 100 million people and cost the economy $100 billion”…
GovAI specializes in examining AI threats and risk management. It claims its mission is to help governments and industries to “navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI.” Recently, it has forecast what would happen if AI shut down part of the US electrical grid. Such a cyberattack could cut off power to 100 million people and cost the economy $100 billion. The financial forecast assumes a weeklong blackout.
Because our system is decentralized, a single cyberattack would not cause a nationwide blackout.
But even a successful attack on one region could create all sorts of chaos…
The crippling of the grid could happen in two ways. One such attack could cause a physical breakdown. Another could target hundreds of other weak spots in the system. The analysis adds that smaller attacks are more likely. “The $100 billion grid cyberattack scenario remains useful for understanding the broader range of cyber risks to critical infrastructure, including those at lower damage thresholds.” The authors add that attacking one region would be easier and more likely than a nationwide attack. This makes sense. The US electricity infrastructure is controlled in several huge regions.
It was never a good idea to connect our energy infrastructure to the Internet.
Now we are extremely vulnerable, and there are no easy solutions.
In August, five alphabet agencies issued a very ominous warning.
They announced that hackers have been conducting cyberattacks on Siemens S7 series industrial controllers…
On Aug. 19, the NSA, CISA, FBI, Department of Energy and EPA warned that cyber actors are targeting U.S.-based Siemens S7 series industrial controllers with AI-generated exploitation scripts. These controllers help operate real machinery. The sectors at risk include power, water, manufacturing, chemicals and food production.
A successful attack would not merely steal information. Federal officials warn it could interrupt industrial processes, damage equipment or create safety problems. The government calls this an active threat, not a theoretical one.
If an AI cyberattack allows hackers to take control of Internet-exposed programmable logic controllers, they could potentially do a tremendous amount of damage.
Apparently hackers affiliated with Iran have been targeting Internet-exposed PLCs “since at least April 2026”…
Iran-affiliated threat actors have been targeting internet-exposed PLCs across multiple critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, since at least April 2026. The attacks involve unauthorized access to exposed industrial devices, with some incidents later resulting in changes to controller project files and operator display data. While widespread outages have not been reported, the campaign highlights the risk posed by publicly accessible operational technology and the potential for follow-on disruptive activity.
Hackers affiliated with Iran have also been targeting power facilities in Europe, and in July they were able to successfully shut down one facility for a period of four days…
A small U.K. power facility was forced to shut down for four days in July after a cyberattack linked to Iran-nexus hackers, government officials have confirmed.
Government officials said the attack, first reported by The Telegraph, was limited to one facility, which they did not identify, and noted there was no wider impact to the country’s energy grid.
“This story refers to an incident impacting a small-scale energy generator, and at no point was there a risk to the wider energy system,” a government spokesperson told Cybersecurity Dive.
The next month, hackers affiliated with Iran were able to cause “limited disruption” for water systems in a number of U.S. states…
Iranian-linked hackers targeted U.S. water systems across at least a dozen states, with more than 100 facilities reportedly affected. The IRGC-linked CyberAv3ngers group claimed responsibility, though the U.S. government has not publicly attributed the campaign. The attacks caused limited disruption, including reduced water pressure and a boil-water advisory in Georgia, but normal water access and drinking water quality were not broadly affected.
Needless to say, Iranian hackers are not the best hackers in the world.
Not even close.
Russian hackers are far more sophisticated, and they apparently targeted Poland’s power grid in December 2025…
The Russian state-sponsored APT named Sandworm was behind the December 2025 cyberattack targeting Poland’s power grid, cybersecurity firm ESET reports.
Poland’s energy infrastructure, including two combined heat and power (CHP) plants and a renewable energy management system, was targeted by hackers on December 29-30, and Polish officials blamed Russia for the assault.
Said to have been the largest cyberattack against Poland in years, the December 2025 incident was thwarted before it could cause a blackout or compromise critical infrastructure, the country’s officials said earlier this month.
Offensive AI cyberthreats are only going to become more powerful over time, and so this is a crisis that is not going to go away.
Today, we are talking about freezers and refrigerators going haywire all over Europe…
Apparent cyberattacks targeted supermarket freezers and fridges in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia on Monday, causing some food spoilage.
This is not the first time such an issue has occurred. Last month, hackers targeted hundreds of supermarket chains across France, forcing the temperature of their fridges and freezers up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit and causing fires and food spoilage.
Monday’s apparent cyberattack impacted a number of supermarket chains. ICA Group supermarket chain spokesperson Gustaf Nilsson told news agency TT that “a limited number” of stores were affected overnight by an incident that affected refrigeration and freezing systems, The Associated Press reported in Sweden.
Our military leaders are starting to wake up to the threat posed by AI cyberattacks, and that is why they have initiated “Project FORTRESS”…
The announcement of the Pentagon’s FORTRESS initiative has drawn attention to the U.S. military’s strategies aiming to bolster its energy resilience amid concerns over grid reliability, supply-chain disruptions and other potential threats.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled the Federal Operations for Resilience, Troop Resources, Energy, Supply, and Survivability (FORTRESS) initiative on September 30 in a memo, dubbing it “the nation’s insurance policy” to ensure the U.S. would still be able to obtain the materials it needs and carry out operations if traditional supply chains were cut off.
The Pentagon’s focus on resilience mirrors a broader emphasis on preparedness seen in other countries. Last week in Britain, officials encouraged households to keep basic emergency supplies available for short-term disruptions such as storms, infrastructure failures and power outages, as part of its Be Ready campaign.
