NSA director warns that China could shut the U.S. electric grid down

Admiral Michael Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency and commander of the U.S .Cyber Command, warned the House Intelligence Committee Tuesday that the threat of a cyber attack on the U.S. is "so real," and that an international code in the cyber realm is urgently needed.

According to Rogers, China and "one or two" other countries are capable of launching a cyber-attack that could shut down the electric grid in parts of the United States, and that the U.S. remaining on the defensive is a "losing strategy."

U.S. adversaries could attack our industrial control systems — which, according to Fox News, run "everything from chemical facilities to water treatment plants." Rogers also revealed that U.S. adversaries perform electronic "reconnaissance" regularly to be in a position to attack.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Experts say that China and other countries should be deterred from attacking the U.S., however, since the U.S. Cyber Command has the same powerfully destructive capabilities.