Lights Out: Threats and Implications of a Prolonged Blackout
It’s often said that one of the surest ways to cause fear, calamity or concern is to disrupt the simplest things that most people take for granted. Disrupting the power supply, and access to all of the technologies upon which we depend for modern life, would certainly be one way for our nation’s enemies to disrupt our modern society.
Many people have heard of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) – which is a significant threat to U.S. Critical Infrastructure and the subject of study by the Governmental Accountability Office, Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council and the Senate Committee for Homeland Affairs – but few people have seen it with their own eyes or have an understanding of how it works. Similarly, many people have heard of “vandalism” and “cyber threats” to our nation’s public utilities but aren’t familiar with the pervasive, frequent, and potentially catastrophic nature of these attacks. Join webinar host, Tommy Waller, as he introduces law enforcement professionals to these issues.
The presentation combines audio, visual, and video methods to facilitate a discussion regarding the following:
- the four main threats to the U.S. Electric Grid (physical, cyber, electromagnetic, and geomagnetic),
- who poses these threats (state actors, non-state actors, and mother nature), and
- the implications of a pro-longed blackout to U.S. critical infrastructure and American society.
Presented by Tommy Waller, Director of Special Projects at the Center for Security Policy.