Basics of Grid Security - America’s electric grid, data centers, telecommunications networks, and other critical infrastructure can be damaged or destroyed in several different ways: Atomic weapon that generates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effect; radio frequency device (RFD) which emits a smaller, localized EMP and can be assembled from everyday equipment from a local electronics store or purchased ready-made on the internet;
cyber warfare;
kinetic (i.e. direct physical) attacks; or
geo-magnetic disturbance (GMD) from the sun which can generate an EMP-like effect.

Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP)

A nuclear EMP is a very real threat, given what we know about the Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Both countries have demonstrated advanced capabilities to create a functioning nuclear warhead as well as to build and test the ballistic missiles that might be used as delivery vehicles for such weapons.

Radio Frequency Devices (RFDs)

Devices capable of subjecting transformers and other critical infrastructure to localized, but destructive, levels of EMP can be built from readily available equipment from local electronics stores and instructions from the internet. While the damage would not be nearly as devastating or widespread as that of a nuclear EMP, the ease of acquiring and assembling parts means that terrorists have a relatively easy way to cause significant damage to local communities.
Kinetic (i.e. Direct Physical) Attacks

The April 2013 attack on an electrical substation near San Jose, California demonstrates both the vulnerability of our physical grid infrastructure as well as the fact that terrorists also have been thinking about multiple ways to attack us. Assailants who were never apprehended attacked the Pacific Gas and Electric Metcalf substation with automatic rifle fire on the night of 16 April 2013. Firing more than 100 shots altogether, they knocked out 17 transformers and, even though electric officials were able to avert a blackout, the damage took 27 days to repair. Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) at the time, called the attack “the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the U.S. power grid that has ever occurred.”

Cyber Warfare

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that cyber attacks on the electric grid system are increasing in both frequency and sophistication. Such attacks come from a variety of different sources, including nation states and sub-national terrorist organizations. Concern over their ability to hack into U.S. power grid software and possibly disrupt the electrical supply system is growing because such an attack could be one of the quickest ways to destroy the U.S. economy.

Geo-Magnetic Disturbance (GMD)

Even if no enemy attacks our electric grid, we know that the sun will. That is because the sun regularly is shooting off geo-magnetic storms in every direction.