In a recent column, Forbes contributor Kalev Leetaru, who writes on the “broad intersection of data and society,” tried to answer the suspicions that arose from the sudden blackouts that affected 70% of Venezuela over the course of the past three days.
He considers the possibility of a cyberattack to be a real possibility if only for the fact that the United States has already declared that it wants to remove Venezuela’s president from power and that it’s a common tactic.
According to the author, modern cyber-warfare is the first step in an overall intervention and has the intent of weakening the enemy by creating chaos or sowing social disaffection. This could eventually be followed by a more conventional type of warfare, including invasion.
The author posits, “In the case of Venezuela, the idea of a government like the United States remotely interfering with its power grid is actually quite realistic. Remote cyber operations rarely require a significant ground presence, making them the ideal deniable influence operation.”
Being a completely deniable action, it can also be used to blame your enemies, putting more pressure on them within their own populations.
One example of this is that three minutes after the start of the blackout, United States Senator Marco Rubio tweeted a message to his followers casting blame on the Nicolas Maduro administration. The quick nature of the tweet gave the appearance of a coordinated attack, which caused the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to call Rubio out by name on social networks.
Finally, Leetaru says, “Widespread power and connectivity outages like the one Venezuela experienced last week are also straight from the modern cyber playbook.”
The cyber attack began Thursday against the El Guri hydroelectric plant control system, and left the Venezuelan population without electricity for almost 24 hours.
According to the Venezuelan government, this nation-wide blackout was brought about by foreign-backed actions aimed at destabilizing the government President Nicolas Maduro, who stressed that the aggression “affected everyone equally without political distinction.”
ForbesteleSUR
Documents: Cyberspace and Electronic Warfare
- The United States and Cyberspace: Military Organization, Policies, and Activities
- Cyberspace and Electronic Warfare Operations
- U.S. Army Mad Scientist Conference Report: The 2050 Cyber Army
- Strategic Cyberspace Operations Guide
- U.S. Army Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Manual
- (U//FOUO) U.S. Strategic Command Cyber Warfare Lexicon
- Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare
Venezuelan Defense Minister They want to turn the country into chaos in order to propitiate an intervention
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez reported Sunday that the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) is deployed throughout the country to ensure peace and stability in the face of continued electric sabotage.
On the orders of President Nicolás Maduro, the strategic installations have been occupied and aerial reconnaissance of all the electric transmission lines is being carried out, the minister reported.
“We continue to pursue with great commitment the effort to stabilize the system at the national level and to protect it against any further attacks that might be planned,” he said.
Likewise, Padrino López praised the demonstrations of “courage and resistance” of the Venezuelan people and stressed that there has been no situation of violence despite attempts to “undermine the spirit of resistance” of the citizenry.
Suspension of classes and work activities
The Minister of Communication and Information, Jorge Rodriguez, reported that on Monday March 11 there will be no classes at any school level and work activities will be suspended throughout the country, to advance more quickly in the recovery of the electricity system.
While the violent actors rejoice in false news as they persist in their plans for destabilization, we will defeat this cunning attack so that the people of Venezuela recover their tranquillity,” Rodríguez said.
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- CANVAS Analytic Department: Analysis of the situation in Venezuela, September 2010 – exploiting failures in the electrical sector
- Venezuela in the Dark: A Chronicle of Sabotage
- ALBA, Malta North Africa: “We Denounce to the World Electric Sabotage in Venezuela”
- ‘Stay True to Chavismo,’ Maduro Says as Blackout Continues
- Venezuela’s Electricity Service Gradually Restored Following Sabotage of the El Guri Hydroelectric Dam
- Padrino López: All Venezuela in Unison Must Reject Attacks That Have No Political Distinction