Lights Out: A Cyberattack A Nation Unprepared Surviving the Aftermath
PrepAndBeReady Book Review
Lights Out — A Cyberattack — A Nation Unprepared — Surviving the Aftermath by Ted Koppel
Veteran journalist and respected news anchor, Ted Koppel, leverages his extensive access to powerful people to interview current and former top government officials and electric industry executives to ask each of them some simple questions. His point is to find out whether the U.S. power grid is vulnerable to cyberattack and, if so, what has been done to prevent or diminish the damage from such an act. Former head of the CIA, Leon Panetta, has called this type of potential cyber attack on the power grid an act of war, and “potentially a cyber Pearl Harbor”.
His first question is, “Is it possible that a cyberattack from a rogue nation or terrorist group could take down all or parts of the U.S. electric grid?” Former head of U.S. Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano’s response to Koppel’s question of the likelihood of this happening is, “Very high—80 percent, 90 percent. You know, very, very, high.” His second question is, “What is government doing to prepare, and prepare the people, for this type of event?” The answer is “not much; nothing is closer to the truth…It seems to me inevitable that we have to deal with this but maybe because we don’t know what the answer is we haven’t begun to do so.” That was Koppel’s answer on PBS News Hour when he was interviewed for the book in late October 2015.
Koppel is trying to sound the alarm in order to bring sufficient awareness to the real potential threat so that government, business, and individuals will prepare themselves. From his investigative reporting Koppel is convinced that not only is this highly likely an event but that the nation is woefully unprepared. When Koppel was asked by Gwen Iffil on PBS New Hour, if could be dismissed as a doomsdayer, Koppel responds, “I would be more worried if people, after the fact, found out that I had discovered what I had discovered and not said anything about it. I think that would be the greater ill.”
What makes this veteran journalists warning so real is his explanation of how vulnerable specific elements of the power grid are to sabotage by manipulation of the software systems that control the flow and distribution of electricity from one part of the country to another. Particularly alarming is the fact that only two primary vendors make the software that controls electricity generation and distribution to the grid. Another scary example of vulnerability is the gargantuan transformers that regulate the flow of electricity from location to location. Each transformer is custom built and can range in price from $3 million to $10 million. To add to the vulnerability is that only 10 facilities in the U.S. can make them. Were one of these to be destroyed by either software vulnerabilities or by external damage, it would take months to get a replacement. To make matters worse, disabling a handful of these transformers by cyber attack could wreak havoc in the power grid’s distribution capabilities. Such an attack could render some places without power for extended periods of time.
Koppel’s conclusion is that neither government nor the power industry has properly prepared the grid against cyberattack. Perhaps as alarming, there is no real plan in place to get through such a disruptive event. Federal agencies are woefully unprepared, supposing that they will treat it as a short duration natural disaster. The fact is that some places will not have power restored for weeks, months, or perhaps years. Koppel recommends everyone make their own preparation for short-term, and potentially medium-to-long-term power outages. Although Koppel falls short of providing specific solutions, his final conclusion is that everyone should “have a 3 to 6-month supply of food and water.”
If you want to better understand the threat of cyberattack on the vulnerable U.S. power grid, you will want to read this book. Once you finish it, you will want to get yourself prepared with food and water to get through an event that could take us back 100 years, when life was much darker.
Ted Koppel Television Interviews about his book, Lights Out:
PBS News Hour Interviews Ted Koppel about Lights Out
CBS This Morning Ted Koppel Interview
Ted Koppel speaks with Charlie Rose about his book, Lights Out [this is a lengthy interview of approximately 36 minutes, the book is discussed in the first 23 minutes]