EMP Attacks

In 2015, there was a United States joint Congressional hearing held before the Subcommittee on National Security and the Subcommittee on the Interior to discuss the state of preparedness against the threat of an EMP event. To look at this threat, Congress created two EMP commissions who last reported their findings in 2004 and 2008. Based on these recommendations, a bill has been introduced in every Congress since 2009 to strengthen the protection of the electrical grid to reduce the effects of an EMP. No bills have been passed into law. That being said, the Department of Defense (DoD) did move the North American Aerospace Defense Command inside Cheyanne Mountain in Colorado because the mountain is EMP hardened. Although this will help protect the communication systems on the DoD, the American people will still fall vulnerable. However, state governments have begun taken preparedness steps in order to protect portions of their electrical grid throughout their respective states. The National Space Weather Strategy released a draft executive order for comment in May 2015 by the White House Office of Science and Technology Council. During the hearing it was determined that the order released was, “necessary and clearly within the constitutional mandate to provide for the common defense, but it is an outline of goals, not what is needed. A strategy with priorities and a blueprint for how to reliably mitigate adverse solar weather is essential.” More recently though, the U.S. government has begun taking the threat of EMPs much more seriously. In 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Status Report as part of an update on efforts underway in support of Executive Order (E.O.) 13865 on Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses, that establishes resilience and security standards for U.S. critical infrastructure as a national priority. “EMP attacks are part of the emerging threats against our nation and demand a response,” said Ken Cuccinelli, who served as the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. “That is why DHS is taking these contingencies very seriously, working diligently to mitigate our risks and equipping our state and local partners with the resources they need to do the same. We’ve made significant progress and look forward to the work ahead.” Since the President’s signing of E.O. 13865 in 2019, the DHS, through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), in coordination with the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), have taken action to address EMP vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure. This action includes data analysis, vulnerability and risk assessments, government and industry engagement, and testing and pilot programs that will ultimately determine which critical infrastructures are at greatest risk of an EMP, and then developing and implementing best practices to reduce the risk. CISA director Chris Krebs noted, “As the Nation’s risk advisor, one of CISA’s priorities is understanding and mitigating threats associated with EMPs. Over the past year, we have worked with interagency and industry partners to identify the footprint and effects of EMP threats across our National Critical Functions, and are developing sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective approaches to improving the Nation’s resilience to EMPs.”