WASHINGTON—The Internet, the tool American’s rely on every day, the Internet, actually has the potential to be a weapon of mass destruction, according to one journalist.
Ted Koppel, former ABC Nightline anchor and the author of “Lights Out,” a book that addresses the threat of a cyber attack on the U.S. power grid, emphasized to attendees at CUNA’s GAC that ever since the Internet was created it is was never designed to be protected or defended.
Ted Koppel speaking to CUNA's GAC.
Koppel said the likelihood of a cyber attack on the power grid, most likely from countries such as Iran or North Korea, or the terrorist group ISIS, is high, saying the threat is a much larger concern than many other types of terror threats.
“We now have 3,200 electric power companies in this country and they are all linked together by the Internet,” said Koppel. “I analogize it to a giant balloon with 3,200 valves. Imagine a big balloon with 3,200 valves and half bring air in and half let air out. If these work perfectly, half bringing air in at the same rate half are letting air out, the balloon stays perfectly inflated. But if not … And the only way we have of monitoring that perfect balance is the Internet.”
Koppel said he has talked with national security agencies and learned that China and Russia have likely penetrated the power grid. He said he was told that both countries, with a “push of button,” could take down all or parts of the power grid.
Koppel noted there are three power grids across the U.S., and the one along the eastern seaboard stretches past Chicago.
“If someone took out that grid it would affect more than 100 million Americans,” he said. “And estimates are if it goes down it will stay down for weeks or months.”
Koppel said that in his efforts to speak with local and national security personnel he learned that a plan to defend the power grid, and a plan to address what happens in the event an attack on the grid, probably does not exist.
Koppel said he spoke with one official from Homeland Security and asked if the country was prepared to respond if an attack on the power grid occurred, and the official recommended that Koppel get a battery powered radio.
“I asked, what will you tell me then on my battery radio after an attack happens that you can’t tell me now?” joked Koppel.
'Time Bombs' in the Grid
Koppel said a former official with the National Security Agency, the one who told him that the Chinese and Russians are already inside the grid, have planted “time bombs” but would probably not use them since the they have “interlocking interests” with the U.S.
But the “bad news,” said Koppel, is that Iran and North Korea, the two other countries most capable of this kind of attack, would have no reservations about setting off their own bombs if they get inside the grid. He also said that the power grid is likely an ISIS target, and that the terrorist group may someday acquire the cyber expertise to execute an attack. Koppel added that what is needed to take down a power grid can be bought “off the shelf.”
In comparing the threat to the power grid to other types of terrorist attacks, such as bombings and shootings, Koppel emphasized that the power grid attack may be the country’s biggest concern.
“I am making this point to you,” concluded Koppel. “We have become so dependent on the Internet that we have failed to consider the danger it presents. The Internet has become a weapon of mass destruction.”