- [George] From natural phenomena

to cyber hacks like themassive SolarWinds operation

and recent attack to theColonial Gas pipeline,

security experts warn it's clear

that most businessesand key infrastructure

like power grids across this country

are woefully unpreparedto meet such threats.

- They went after our gas

and they went after our hot dogs.

No one is out of bounds here.

Everyone is in play.

- [George] Lawmakers likeSenator Bob Hall of Texas

also worry that means hackers

could be just a few keystrokes away

from turning the lights out

in cities around our country.

- We are certainly vulnerable

across the board to natural

and manmade threats toour electrical grid system

that could render itunrepairable in our lifetime.

- [George] Paul tells CBN News

that he's especially concerned

about an electronicmagnetic pulse or EMP attack

against the grid.

- It entails simply onesmall nuclear weapon

being detonated above the central part

of the United States overNebraska, Kansas area

would put out a, create apulse from coast to coast

and border to border

that would totally annihilateour electric system.

- There's really no excuse for the country

to be vulnerable to EMP.

- [George] Dr. Peter Pry,

a former CIA intelligence officer sits

on the Department of HomelandSecurity's EMP taskforce.

He's out with a reportthis week concluding

that North Korea is now in possession

of EMP weapons so strong

that no electric gird could survive

from such an attack.

- North Korea almost certainly

has developed super EMP weapons.

These are nuclear weapons

that are specialized to produce

extraordinarily powerfulelectromagnetic pulse effects

and it would make it, alongwith Russia and China,

one of the few nations in the world

that has these weapons.

- [George] San Antonio, Texas

is now leading the nation's efforts

to defend against suchelectromagnetic threats.

In collaboration with the Air Force's

Joint Base San Antonio,

Retired Brigadier General Guy Walsh,

along with teams ofresearchers, scientists

and security experts

are studying grid vulnerabilities

and deploying measures to protect them

from getting fried.

For obvious security reasons,

Walsh won't divulge specifics

but says their goal is.

- To really look across the board

at training, at education

and the technologies

that are gonna helpmake the electrical grid

both resilient to attack

but able to recover more quickly.

- [George] Meanwhile, gridoperators in some regions

of the country are also heeding warnings

to prepare for solar storms

and sunspots blastingparticles into space,

called coronal mass ejections.

William Murtagh's groupat the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA,

maintains that direct linewith all the electric companies

in the event of a geomagnetic eruption.

- When we see one of theselarger eruptions occurring

on the sun and they're what wecall a coronal mass ejection

coming toward Earth,

we initiate this hot line call

and we make communication withessentially the entire grid,

owners and operators across the nation.

- [George] Researchers withthe US Geological Survey

released this map last year

showing grid systems in the Midwest

and Eastern seaboard

that are particularlyvulnerable to solar storms.

Murtagh says electricity operators

are now constantly assessingareas of vulnerability.

- If there's vulnerabilityto certain equipment,

maybe they can modify that equipment,

the manufacturing of that equipment

to make it hardened, tomake it better protected

against the geomagnetic storm.

There are many differentactions they can take

to ensure that the gridstays up and running

during these big geomagnetic storms.

- Still, the big challenge is that many

of America's electricity systems

weren't designed or built

with the thought of beingprotected against cyber threats

or EMP attacks.

- The systems themselvesare very antiquated.

They're very old.

Security's very difficult todo on these types of devices

and we've seen in prior attacks

where Russia hasinfiltrated our power grid

from a military prepared perspective,

which means in the eventthat there's a conflict,

could Russia impact our grid?

- Former NSA hacker DavidKennedy tells CBN News

that only a few of them are even prepared

to handle today's levelof hacking sophistication,

especially those attackscoming from China.

- China is very pressing

because they have a very long-term view.

They're very focused onintellectual property theft,

as well as their military capabilities

from a cyber warfare perspective.

I mean, they're handing itto us in the United States

from a cyber warfare perspective

and they're definitely scary.

- [George] The energy industry

is the third-most targeted sector

for cyber criminals,

behind only finance and manufacturing.

And according to the Energy Department,

hackers have the capability

to shut down America's power grid.

- There are very malign actors

who are trying, even as we speak,

there are thousands of attacks

on all aspects of the energy sector

and the private sector generally.

- [George] Studies aboutcosts run the gamut

from more than 25 billiona year to protect the grid

to as much as $7 trillion

to upgrade and modernize the whole system.

A new survey this week fromthe non-partisan group,

Protect Our Power, found a majority

of people support more federal funding

to secure our nation's electric grid ahead

of potential catastrophe.

- It so often is the case

when we face challengesor threats on the horizon,

we're better off dealingwith it before it hits,

as opposed to after it hits.

- [George] George Thomas, CBN News.