Standing aboard an aircraft carrier in New York’s Hudson River in 2012, US defense secretary Leon Panetta warned of a looming attack that would “paralyse and shock the nation”. It would not come via air, land or sea, he said, but through the internet.
“A cyberattack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack on 9/11,” he claimed, citing a recent spate of high-profile hacks that had exposed the fragility of an increasingly digitised critical infrastructure.
“They could derail passenger trains, or even more dangerous, derail trains loaded with lethal chemicals,” he continued. “They could contaminate the water supply in major cities, or shut down the power grid across large parts of the country.”