White-Hot Hack (Kate and Ian #2)(66)
Lastly was the threat of a cyberattack. The power grid had been on the Cyber Action Team’s radar for years because it was probed hundreds of times per day by hackers around the globe in an attempt to unearth its vulnerabilities. However, large-scale attacks were thought to be unlikely because the power grid’s biggest vulnerabilities were also its strengths. Most regional utility companies were independently owned and weren’t required to use the same hardware or software, so sending the entire nation into darkness with one exploit would be nearly impossible. Hackers would need a multitude of custom hacks to connect the various networks, and not many would be willing to attempt such a massive undertaking. China and Russia had the patience and the financial capability, but even then they’d have to get past the numerous high-voltage interconnects whose specific purpose was to prevent widespread outages.
Ian spent the next four hours hacking his way into the networks of some of the biggest power plants on the Eastern Interconnection. The number of probes left behind by hackers—tools whose sole purpose was to seek out vulnerabilities in the system—had skyrocketed in the past four weeks. At first Ian doubted his findings, but then he reached for his glasses and double-checked the numbers, comparing them to the last report. The spike in activity confirmed that his hunch might not have been so far-fetched after all.
Still, it didn’t make sense that a group who resided primarily in the United States would do anything to jeopardize the power they themselves depended on.
Unless the hacktivists wanted to cripple segmented parts of the infrastructure in order to make a point.
Especially the areas of the grid that provided DC with its power.
Ian picked up the phone and called Phillip.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The task force assembled quickly, and once everyone had filed into the conference room, Phillip explained the reason for the impromptu meeting. “I’m sorry to call you in on such short notice, but Ian has uncovered some information that points to a possible cyberattack on specific sections of the power grid.”
Ian ran through what he’d found. “In the past thirty days, there was a significant increase in the number of remote probes on the grid. All of them had malware attached and were found in a concentrated area stretching from South Carolina to Maryland. I think they’re trying to take down all or part of the Eastern Interconnection, but so far they haven’t been able to compromise the grid on a large enough scale to do any damage.”
“So they take down part of the grid and it stays down until we can bring systems back online?” Pete said.
A look of unease appeared on their faces. The nation’s capital had experienced a fluke storm called a super derecho a few years back. The hurricane-force winds had knocked out power to five states along the Eastern Seaboard, and four days later, the area’s utility companies had managed to restore power to only two-thirds of its customers. Thousands of businesses were closed, 911 call centers could not respond to emergencies, and gas stations were unable to pump fuel. Many federal agencies in DC had no choice but to shut down temporarily. A targeted cyberattack had the ability to keep them in the dark for an indeterminable amount of time, with catastrophic consequences. Not only would there be devastating financial losses, but the safety of the population would be at risk almost immediately due to large-scale looting and crime.
“Why would a group located in the US plan a potential domestic terrorist attack just to make a point? They’d be subjected to the same repercussions everyone else would encounter,” Tom asked, articulating what everyone was probably thinking. “That’s like setting off a giant bomb in the building you live in.”
“Because if they’re the ones who cause the outage, there’s nothing preventing them from relocating to an area that won’t be losing power,” Ian said. He shut his laptop. “It’s the ultimate act of civil disobedience and retaliation. We took away Joshua Morrison’s power. Now the members of his group are going to take away ours.”
“Well, at least we know their agenda now,” Charlie said.
“I’ve already notified the appropriate personnel and departments, and we’ll be convening immediately to determine a strategy and discuss disaster-recovery protocol. Once I know how we plan to proceed, I’ll let you know your roles.”
Ian and Charlie left the building together.
“What’s Kate up to today?”
“She’s just hanging out at home.” The only thing Kate had been doing much of in the past few weeks was kneeling in front of the toilet and throwing up every single thing she tried to put in her stomach. She couldn’t handle anything sweet and subsisted mostly on saltine crackers. Kate loved her morning coffee, but even the smell of it brewing was enough to make her gag. Though she’d told him it wasn’t necessary, he’d given it up for the time being. She rarely complained, and the only evidence she needed more rest than usual was her desire for an earlier bedtime. She was about ten weeks along, which meant the baby had likely been conceived when they were in Costa Rica. Before he’d left the house to drive to headquarters, he’d gone looking for her and found her curled up on her side on the cold, hard tile of the bathroom floor, looking about as miserable as a person could look.
“This is certainly one way to guarantee my retirement,” she said, lifting her arms weakly in the air to make quotes around the word retirement. “I’m too sick to leave the house.”