On the recordJuly 19, 2012
I think Senator Mikulski made the case so well here, too. When we looked at this, when we have gone through exercises, the power grid is where you go first because it is the most dramatic, I suppose. But there are so many other places you could go--the description of the financial networks. Suddenly business stops. I was making a list here. We were talking of the kinds of things that could be at risk through some kind of cyber-attack--everything from electromagnetic pulse attack to literally a cyber-attack that comes into these various networks. There are 111 powerplants in Missouri. In our State alone, there are 111 powerplants. They are all in some way or another hooked into the grid. They can be disabled in a significant way. I was talking to a friend of mine who, during the last few days, was in West Virginia with their family. Driving to West Virginia, the electricity was out and they began to see abandoned cars because nobody could get to a gas station, and if they could get to a gas station, it was closed. So there were cars all over the place. That is assuming you can even get out of the traffic mess you would be in in more urban areas. But where would you go? What would you do? The desperation we understand. It would be something that is preventable if we prevent it.…
