The U.S. is vulnerable to cyber attacks from China and other countries capable of shutting down the power grid and disabling vital infrastructure, according to Admiral Michael Rogers, head of both the National Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. Rogers recently warned the House Intelligence Committee: “We’re seeing multiple nation-states invest in those kinds of capabilities.” Cybersecurity firm Mondiant confirmed that China had hacked into U.S. utility systems and has the knowledge potential to exploit vulnerabilities and shut down or disrupt them.

Rogers says this could allow Chinese hackers “to shut down very segmented, very tailored parts of our infrastructure that forestall the ability to provide that service to us as citizens.” Such an attack could have catastrophic effects, to say the least. Rogers agreed with recent predictions that a major cyber attack will occur within the next decade: “It is only a matter of the when, not the if, that we are going to see something traumatic.” China is not the only player in the cyber warfare game. Although Rogers declined to name other countries involved, it’s generally acknowledged that Russia has advanced cyber warfare capabilities. CONTINUE