Cyber Warfare Is the New Oil Embargo
An attack on a major U.S. oil artery hammers home that energy security in the 21st century means more than energy independence. Networks are both vital and vulnerable.
Having your own energy supply provides some security, but if your thinking stops there, you’re stuck in the 1970s.
Photographer: Joseph W. Neumayer/Archive Photos/Getty Images
The most chilling horror movie I ever saw — the one that really stays with me — is a low-budget, mid-1980s effort by the BBC about nuclear war called “Threads.” The title refers to all the delicate linkages upon which modern society relies, ranging from power lines to respect for the law to common speech, which collapse after the unthinkable happens.
Almost 40 years on, our interconnectedness is even more pronounced, but you don’t need the Bomb to unravel vital networks. The proverbial 400-pound hacker tapping away in bed is our post-modern ICBM. This weekend’s shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, a major oil artery linking the Gulf Coast to East Coast markets, doesn’t spell Armageddon, of course. Provided the situation is resolved quickly, disruption to energy markets should be as minimal as when shutdowns occurred in 2016. Certainly, cars were not lining up to stockpile gas in my corner of New York on Saturday.