An ignored threat in a war with N. Korea: cyberattacks on the US power grid

Has anyone else read the book "Lights Out" by Ted Koppel? Yes, Ted Koppel the highly respected journalist.

I'm about halfway through it, and it's already an eye-opener. The consequences of just one of the three power grids that supply the US going down for more than a few days is horrifying. Some of the experts Mr. Koppel interviewed felt that a concerted cyberattack could realistically knock out power for MONTHS across dozens of states, leaving tens of millions of Americans without food, water, sewer facilities, hospitals, gasoline and communication services. The impression you come away with, after his interviews with government officials in charge of emergency response is that no one has really planned for a loss of power for such a large area, for so long a period of time. They plan for hurricanes hitting cities, and power being out for a few days in a few cities at most. Imagine the entire West Coast being devoid of power for 3 months. Imagine FEMA and the National Guard trying to supply food, water, medicine, and law enforcement to 50 million people across a thousand miles for months on end, because it takes months for the 500,000 pound large power transformers to be custom-built in a factory halfway around the world, shipped in, transported and installed.

At the same time, due to the way US power producers are interconnected, just one smaller electricity company with a flaw in their cybersecurity could open the window to an attack that could daisy-chain through the entire industry. And per Mr. Koppel's interviews, there are a LOT of companies who aren't willing or able to pony up the millions of dollars in software and hardware upgrades needed to prevent this, nor are there many government requirements to force them to.

And one of the chapters in the book actually does bring up the threat of North Korea's rapidly growing cyberwarfare capabilities, and how it's a cheap, easy way for a small nation to inflict severe damage to a much larger, more powerful nation in the 21st century.

If a shooting war did break out between the US and N. Korea, I find it hard to believe that Kim wouldn't direct every weapon he had at his disposal at the US. Too many armchair warriors out there seem to think that they would be safe in the event a few nukes were detonated halfway across the world.