Attacks on Electrical Grids

Critical to InfrastructurePower grids or electric utility systems are part of critical infrastructure which are comprised of physical systems that connect components of a nation’s electricity supply, thereby directly influencing any nation’s economy and social structure. Since 2011, threat streams including from both cyberattacks and physical sabotage have increased worldwide, including the United States. The US Department of Energy reports that the nation's electric utilities reported 362 physical and cyberattacks between 2011 and 2014. In Yemen in 2014, an act of sabotage left the country's 23 million residents without power for a week. In the last few years, electrical infrastructures have also been attacked in North America [April 2013 and August 2014], the Middle East [June 2014] , and Central Asia [January 2015]. The perpetrators have ranged from a few individuals to organized groups. Although the North American attack was not nearly as severe in terms of scale as the…