As the general election season starts to kick into high gear, there’s a massive new threat emerging in the United States that everyone should be aware of: cyber attacks on the power grid. This is honestly the stuff of nightmares. A successful attack on the power grid could not only have a negative impact on the election itself, but on the spread of information. Chaos will undoubtedly ensue, especially if folks lose power for extended periods of time.
Traffic lights go out. And I think we’re all aware of the dimwits that are out on the road driving who suddenly lose their minds when the lights go out and have no idea what to do. For the record, you treat the stop light intersection as a four-way stop. That bit right there is free.
Of course, the biggest danger in such a situation is rioting and looting. In our day and age this has become a common practice with people, especially young folk, always looking for any reason to legitimize breaking into businesses and stealing everything their heart has ever desired.
Remember all of the riots that took place in 2020 after George Floyd was killed? Imagine that all over again. Only this time, there’s no power. Imagine all of the hospitals having to run on generators and being stretched to the max. It’s horrifying. Then you have to worry about finding a way to preserve your food in the fridge.
And think about the crime rate. No doubt bad people will take advantage of the situation to attack the weak. This will be an especially dangerous time for the elderly.
This is why I believe that if there is ever another global conflict, it won’t just be one fought on a battlefield, but right in our own homes and cities through the use of cyber warfare.
The increased threats are because of hackers, but not just any run-of-the-mill kind. We’re talking about individuals who are paid to wreak havoc on the power grid by actual foreign governments. When I mention physical attacks on the power grid, I’m referring to the type that happened at substations located in the state of North Carolina during the later part of 2022, according to a report from Yahoo.
“We are anticipating a fairly active year on the security front,” Jim Robb, the chief executive officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corp, said during an Electric Power Supply Association conference held in Washington earlier in the week.
And the power grid isn’t the only thing that is a target for hackers. The White House just put out a new cyber attack warning to governor’s around the country suggesting that foreign hackers could potentially launch attacks against water and sewage systems. Many cities run such systems on older, outdated equipment that is in serious need of being upgraded. Max Kilger of UT-San Antonio stated that a hack could lead to additional chlorine or fluoride into the water system. The Biden administration stated that the hackers are looking for systems that have not changed their default passwords.
Let’s hope security gets beefed up and this becomes a non-issue.
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