The East Coast electric grid's slow recovery from Hurricane Sandy highlights the shortcomings of the overburdened utility system and its susceptibility to damage from a different kind of surprise threat: terrorist attacks, especially hackers, notes one risk manager.

A report released by the National Research Council's (NRC) Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, in conjunction with the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), shows that a terrorist attack on the U.S. electric delivery system could cause massive blackouts and cost the country billions, even more than what was triggered by the unprecedented storm.

"Power system disruptions experienced to date in the United States, be they from natural disasters or malfunctions, have had immense economic impacts," says M. Granger Morgan, professor and head of the department of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. 

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