Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath

Written by Ted Koppel

Narrated by Ted Koppel

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Ted Koppel reveals that a major cyberattack on America’s power grid is not only possible but likely, that it would be devastating, and that the United States is shockingly unprepared.

“Fascinating, frightening, and beyond timely.”—Anderson Cooper

Imagine a blackout lasting not days, but weeks or months. Tens of millions of people over several states are affected. For those without access to a generator, there is no running water, no sewage, no refrigeration or light. Food and medical supplies are dwindling. Devices we rely on have gone dark. Banks no longer function, looting is widespread, and law and order are being tested as never before. 

It isn’t just a scenario. A well-designed attack on just one of the nation’s three electric power grids could cripple much of our infrastructure—and in the age of cyberwarfare, a laptop has become the only necessary weapon. Several nations hostile to the United States could launch such an assault at any time. In fact, as a former chief scientist of the NSA reveals, China and Russia have already penetrated the grid. And a cybersecurity advisor to President Obama believes that independent actors—from “hacktivists” to terrorists—have the capability as well. “It’s not a question of if,” says Centcom Commander General Lloyd Austin, “it’s a question of when.” 

And yet, as Koppel makes clear, the federal government, while well prepared for natural disasters, has no plan for the aftermath of an attack on the power grid.  The current Secretary of Homeland Security suggests keeping a battery-powered radio.

In the absence of a government plan, some individuals and communities have taken matters into their own hands. Among the nation’s estimated three million “preppers,” we meet one whose doomsday retreat includes a newly excavated three-acre lake, stocked with fish, and a Wyoming homesteader so self-sufficient that he crafted the thousands of adobe bricks in his house by hand. We also see the unrivaled disaster preparedness of the Mormon church, with its enormous storehouses, high-tech dairies, orchards, and proprietary trucking company—the fruits of a long tradition of anticipating the worst. But how, Koppel asks, will ordinary civilians survive?

With urgency and authority, one of our most renowned journalists examines a threat unique to our time and evaluates potential ways to prepare for a catastrophe that is all but inevitable.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781101888940

Reviews for Lights Out

[wren73-89184 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well-written and researched - very scary!

[dcavin-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Scary, but what can you do.

[scatlett-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A book about cyberattacks as weapons of mass destruction by no less an author than noted investigative journalist Ted Koppel should have been a slam dunk page turner. However, while the subject matter is terrifying and the thought of just what the results could be of even a partial American power grid collapse is absolutely heart stopping, Koppel’s presentation of the material was not what I was expecting from such a well-respected writer. The research itself behind this work is outstanding, from the interviews with key governmental personnel to the three chapters related to the disaster prepping completed by the Mormons. The sheer enormity and complexity of the subject matter alone necessitates skillful and clear presentation. I anticipated that as a journalist Koppel would be able to succinctly and clearly layout the problem and the possible resolutions. The organization of the subject matter might have something to do with my disappointment as I feel that the chapters of the book are disjointed and uneven. Koppel shines when he is discussing the underlying business issues and government policy in relation to cyber-terror, but, as the book goes on, the author’s handling of the potential responses to the catastrophic scenarios he describes is not as polished. I think this may be more a result of the actual lack of available planning by national authorities than by Koppel, who writes that “our points of vulnerable access are greater than in all of previous human history, yet we have barely begun to focus on the actual danger that cyberwarfare presents.” Overall, I simply liked this book when I wanted to love it. I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.

[nfmgirl2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been concerned with the stability and reliability of our electrical grid for some time now. A coworker and I have talked about how an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) or solar flare could kill all electronics in a given area. Do you have any idea what is "electronic" these days? Everything, including our cars! If an EMP hit a highly-populated area like New York or Los Angeles, most people would find themselves without electricity, cars, radios or phones. No power means no refrigeration, and people on medications that need to be refrigerated (like insulin for diabetics) would begin to die, there would be no incubators for babies or life support for patients in need. The only working automobiles would be old-fangled carburetor-driven vehicles. And getting power up again would be no easy feat. In the case of an EMP or solar flare or something that takes out transformers, it's possible that a densely-populated area could be without power for over a year, as new transformers would have to be manufactured and installed.

However this book addresses more the vulnerability our system has to hackers, and how other countries like Russia have already attempted to hack the system and come frighteningly close more than once. And we are doing alarmingly little to protect ourselves against hacking.

This book does a great job of explaining our vulnerabilities, where we are failing, and what could be done to protect ourselves. This is an important book, and people need to be aware of the danger we face every day to being plunged back into the dark ages.

[rlevans723 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book isn't one that I would usually reach for, but I am really glad I did. Ted Koppel delivers a interesting and intriguing look at life without the power grid. The extensive amount of research Koppel performed shows through his through and in-depth look at the topic. His writing style is easy to read and he well communicates his theories. My favorite part is that this isn't purely scare-tactics; this book is practical. After reading it, I certainly feel more prepared should a cyberattack on the electrical grid occur.

[willszal-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Generally I don't read this sort of apocalyptic tech-focused material. But I generally try to stay aware of the frailties of our society, and therefore, decided to pick up a copy.

Koppel certainly has phenomenal sources, which he could access due to his big name in journalism. I found myself wondering if the book might have actually been improved though by doing more original research, and talking with fewer industry executives and top political leaders, and instead had conversations at the bottom of the chain of command, that might have more first-hand experience with the technologies in question.

The core premise of the book is that the US power grid is extremely susceptible to attack, including cyber attack, physical attack, and EMT attack from a high-altitude atomic bomb.

We have tens of thousands of massive transformers across the country, and some experts believe that knocking out just twelve of them could shut down power across the entire country. These transformers are custom made, take years to manufacture, and are extremely difficult to transport, so replacement is anything but easy.

The Department of Defense estimates that if the grid was out for a year, 90% of Americans would die. In other words, it's a significant threat. Everything we do today relies on power, from things as simple as accessing fresh water, disposing of our waste, and keeping our buildings at habitable temperatures.

Koppel goes on to spend most of the book looking at how prepared people are to deal with such an outage. Although he goes and talks with "preppers" and Mormons, he fails to follow his train of thought to its logical conclusion. The local food and local economy movements, along with Transition Towns, have been building more resilient communities since the sixties, and not once does Koppel reference such efforts.

The only truly resilient solutions require cultural change on a massive level, and all Koppel cites is the possibility of installing nuclear generators at military bases because they don't need to adhere to safety protocols.

What about all the people building off-grid or battery-back-up solar systems? What about all the small-scale sustainable farms growing food with human and animal power instead of with fossil fuels? What about the primitive skills community that can survive without any modern amenities?

Although Koppel makes a very good point—the grid is a disaster [and not just because of its fragility]—the book could do more to detail the problem, and ultimately fails to come anywhere close to outlining possible solutions.

[ehousewright-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is unreadable—but not for the usual reasons. It took me much longer than a book this size would normally take because I could not read for very long before jumping up to make a list of emergency supplies, find a place for storing them or just pace. That isn’t Koppel’s point; he is talking about months-long outages that would go way beyond the preparations for a few days that you might think to make for natural disasters like storms or earthquakes. But while you can’t do much about that level of emergency (beyond asking about it at local, state and national levels) you certainly can think about it and be sure you have at least a minimum stock of supplies. You can tell that Koppel is a newsperson, not an author, but he makes pretty good arguments that disruption on that level is very possible, that the agencies you might think have a handle on it might not, and that governments and agencies should be doing this planning. Reading the book will make you very uncomfortable—let’s hope that more people read it.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"This book is about dealing with the consequences of losing power in more than one sense of the word."

Boy is it! The first 3 pages lay it down, and the first chapter slams it home! A cyber attack on our country, shutting down one, or all three, of the power grids that generate and distribute our electricity, upon which we are so dependent on in this age of computers, smartphones, and the internet! Scary stuff, but important! I think we all should read this!

"To be dependent is to be vulnerable."

[carrie.kilgore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What would happen if our electric grid went down via cyberattack? Is that possible? Keppel presents compelling evidence that such a thing is indeed possible, and likely probable. Now think about how much we depend upon electricity. If you've ever experienced a power outage (and who hasn't?) you have an idea about how difficult it might be if it took an extended period of time to restore power. Because of course it's not just the electricity you lose. You lose running water and sewage disposal, you run out of food and medicine. You can't pump gas or use your credit cards. No phone or internet. And what if it continued for months instead of days? Certainly the power companies could repair the damage quickly, right? Uh, not so much. Well, then... the government has a plan, right? Not really.

Koppel has the chops to get interviews from lots of experts. It's scary. But this isn't a doom and gloom book--there are steps we can take to safeguard ourselves, things we might do to survive the worst. It's time to stop ignoring this problem. Sure, you can become a prepper, but that doesn't help society as a whole. Let's speak up instead and work as a community to galvanize our leaders from the local to the national level. Big problems can be intimidating, but failing to plan for major disaster simply doesn't help.

[marilynsantiago · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So I thought we had to worry about earthquakes. Ted Koppel brings cyber attacks to a new level. What will we do when the electric grid crashes?? Out here in the NW corner of America with 2 different earthquake senerios there is some prep for living without electricity, but I don't think enough.
A good book if just to be aware and to think about what we might do in such an attack. Mr. Koppel explains how this could happen, and while all the big players are aware it does not to seem to be a priority.

[etxgardener · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ted Keppol outlines a terrifying scenario of what would happen in the power grid of the United States was destroyed, illustrating how ill-prepared this country is to meet technological disasters

[thoughtbox-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ted Koppel has provided us with a timely overview of the effects a cyberattack could bring to America. While not particularly breaking any new ground, he brings together the effects and hazards in an eminently readable format.

[aardvark2_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Koppel’s book gives us an exhaustive and frightening look at America’s vulnerability to a cyberattack on our electric power grids. He describes why we are vulnerable to attack, how terrorists could attack—almost a how-to blueprint for them—and how woefully unprepared the country would be if it happened. The first half of the book I found to be informative and interesting, the latter portion not so much. He spends a large portion of the book writing about “preppers” and what they are doing to survive any calamity, not just power grid failure. He visits ranchers in Wyoming, who have a self-sufficiency mindset, not relying on government to provide for them in an emergency. He visits preppers in suburban St. Louis, with their guns and safe rooms and bug out location. He spends a large chunk of the book on Mormons, their history and belief in stockpiling at least three months worth of food and water. Koppel’s message is that power grid failure is inevitable at some point, chaos will ensue, so we should all be prepping for the worst. He seems to hold out little hope for preventing a cyberattack.

[cattriona · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This well-researched and well-documented inquiry into the security of the nation's power supply may leave you with some sleepless nights. The conclusions are somewhat bleak, but the narrative is interesting and the few suggestions made for personal preparedness are reasonable to undertake.

[jcervone-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ted Koppel is an outstanding journalist and did an excellent job writing this book. It thoroughly outlines the risks and challenges facing our nation's power grids due to a variety of attacks ranging from conventional guns and bombs to cyber attacks. The read is informative and quite frankly somewhat frightening at how easily compromised the grid is and how little anyone is doing about it. If you have an interest in a topic such as this then this is the book for you. It proved to be a bit more technical and in depth than I had anticipated and wasn't what I was looking for. As a result I did not particularly enjoy it. However, it is a well written and very very well researched book.

[sherylhendrix · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well researched, this book delineates the possible and probably scenarios were the US to come under cyberattack that took out our electrical grid for an extended period of time. Koppel talked to numerous persons in positions of authority relative to the possibility of such an attack, the likelihood of such an attack, our preparedness (or lack thereof) should such an attack occur and what we as individuals or families can possibly do to prepare for an event of this magnitude. The main problem I had with the book, and the reason for just 2 1/2 stars, is that the audience towards which it is primarily directed is unclear to me. The first half of the book was extremely technical - at least in this layman's opinion - and seemed directed at convincing those who ought to be preparing for cyberwarfare to be doing more than they are currently doing. The second half of the book seemed to be directed more towards the average reader, and while it didn't spell out much hope for most of us, it appears that if you are a Mormon you would have a pretty good chance of survival long-term without an electrical grid. All in all, while I believe it is probably and likely an important book, it is a boring book.

[winnemucca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An old saying suggests that everyone is afraid of the dark. Ted Koppel appropriately entitled his book Lights Out. Not only does the title refer to the fear that is a consequence of attack on the American power grids but the title also reflects our lack of knowledge of the existence of a problem.

After Ted Koppel explains the threat and its consequences, he addresses the issue that our society is reactive rather than proactive. An assault on our power grids would obstruct efforts to respond to the crises. Moreover, we would likely lack the ability to determine the source of the assault.

Ignorance is not bliss in the event of a cyber attack of this magnitude. The American public has cause for a fear of the dark due to the cataclysmic repercussions that would ensue.

Ted Koppel has written a comprehensive book with facts from multiple interviews with a wide spectrum of knowledgeable sources in the fields of technology, science, and emergency preparedness. Our homeland advisors know that we are not prepared for a catastrophic event of this caliber.

Every American owes it to his family, community, and nation to read Lights Out. It is not a question of if this imminent disaster will occur, but is a matter of when. This threat to our lives and nation is presented in a readable format. We need to share the book's message with others. It appears that we all have cause for being afraid of the dark.

[hammockqueen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent topic, writer and speaker. I enjoyed it and it got me to sharing and talking to others about the safety of our electric grids and how we could survive. I especially liked the information of the Mormon community. I need more water set aside!

[rickla-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This timely book addresses a very possible risk to America – a cyber-attack which would cripple our electrical grid system. We are so dependent on our electrical system nowadays. We have become so accustomed to the easy convenience of electrical power in practically everything we do, with the plethora of appliances we use. And now with the advent of the computer age, it is even more crucial, because of our reliance on cell phones and computers. Indeed, our entire communications system is based on electricity – the way we get our food, water, medical care, and on and on. If the system went down for more than a few days, it would be literally disastrous. And yet we hear very little about this risk, compared with the “ordinary” disasters such as fires, hurricanes, etc. But as bad as those occurrences are, they do their damage, then they are gone, and we clean up and fix up and recover. On the other hand, an electrical grid failure would cause problems for months because of the sheer magnitude of the problem.
I am so glad that Ted Koppel has written this book, as he pulls no punches in laying out the colossal problem that a cyber-attack would be. He talks to many experts and officials, pushing and probing for answers. It is a bit disconcerting that he mostly receives vague and inadequate answers. Few officials even focus on this problem. We are spending millions of dollars on TSA lines at the airport, but very little on this far more dangerous situation – the safety and security of our electrical system. Koppel does talk to some people who are addressing the problem. There are small communities of survivalists and “preppers” but they are fairly isolated; they couldn’t handle the millions of people who would be affected. Oddly enough, the Mormons are the major community of any size that is concretely preparing for a potential disaster situation.
The book will leave you with a very worrisome outlook. Koppel does not really provide a solution at the conclusion of the book. He does say that at least we have to identify the problem. True, but we really have to start doing something about it. There could be one thing good about the recent hacker attacks that have been revealed during this election season – if we become aware of the prevalence of such attacks and do something about them. And one of the main places to start would be the electrical system. As much as I worry about earthquakes (living in Los Angeles), and I do, a major failure of the electrical grid system would be even more disastrous. I hope everyone reads this book – especially our country’s leaders, and that they do something about it.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Free early reviewer book. Short and terrifying; Koppel investigates America’s vulnerability to attack on our electric power infrastructure. It’s huuuuuge. Lots of people would die, even though there are various preppers out there—and Mormons, who have a well-organized plan for disaster. I didn’t know that in 2013 there was what appeared to be a really well-planned, successful attack by SEAL-type forces on a power station in California, which might have been a practice run for a larger operation. Koppel also points to the Sony hack and the Stuxnet virus to show how easy it would be for well-resourced hackers to disrupt our systems in ways that couldn’t be detected until too late, which in this election season makes me freaked out about voting even more than power. His proposed solutions involve more preparation, which seems sensible, and also more power to the government to invade our privacy in order to find potential threats, which seems less so—Koppel seems to believe that we won’t adequately prepare unless we are so scared that we also give up our privacy, but I don’t think that those two are so necessarily connected. Also, take note, writers: this book and its cited sources would be good background reading for your postapocalyptic scenarios.

[mmoxley-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Journalist Koppel's is an important, albeit frightening book that details the havoc that could result from cyberattacks on the US power grid. He points out that the nation (and its citizens) are woefully unprepared to deal with the devastating aftermath.
This book should be widely read by those in positions to better prepare and respond to such an attack and the rest of us, who can bring pressure to bear for these efforts and ready ourselves to deal with possible after effects.
I received an Early Reviewer of the book.

[charlesboyd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ted Kopppel's book "Lights Out," reports that there are three ways America's power grid could be partially or completely knocked out and asserts that no level of our government--local, state, national-has a plan to prevent it or recover from it. He makes a strong case; I'm convinced.

Interesting are the stories of the people who have prepared for their own survival, though it's not clear how successful they will be, and the information about Mormons who, as a community, are light years ahead of anything our government has ready.

Koppel spends most of the book on cyber attacks, less on physical attacks on power stations and EMP's (electromagnetic pulse) nuclear missles exploded in high altitude over the country, not causing physical destruction or radioactive fallout, but destruction of electronic equipment over a vast area of the country. I'd like to have more information about these two types of attacks and if they can be prevented.

A slight disappointment: Koppel states that as he researched the book, he became aware that he wasn't one likely to do well preparing to survive the aftermath of a massive attack on the power grid. I'd like to know what, if anything, what he did after writing the book to prepare himself and his family for such an aftermath of destruction.

[dyarington_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Is America prepared for an cyber attack on our electrical power grid? No, says Koppel after rigorous research. He summarizes the first half of the tediously fact- filled first half of the book on page 139--"apathy, we're not even there yet". From that point on, the book becomes more readable. I cannot believe that anyone reading this book can come away without examining their own preparedness, or as Koppel would say , "prep". It is far more than scary. It's devastatingly a real threat to our survival as human beings. Then come the Mormons. I was woefully ignorant of the history and preparedness activities of this religious group mostly in the West but all over every state. What an education Koppel presents. Former chief of NSA George Cotter is Koppel's favorite expert. Make no mistake Cotter says, if an attack occurs there will be major loss of life and serious crippling of national security. I believe 15 minutes on the 60 Minutes show or a headline in every paper across the country would be a more effective warning than this now obscure book. The tension between security and privacy is so great in the USA, that we need a wake up call. Koppel does not provide it in this book, but It's a start.

[carolee888 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read all of Ted Koppel's Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath on a part of one day of a road while my husband was driving from Texas to Nevada.. when I read Along the way. I shared interesting tidbits of information with my captive audience. This book is very well documented and detailed. It is easy to understand because Mr. Koppel is an expert at explaining things.


The only qualm that I had with it is the overabundance of facts. I kept wishing that I could find a fiction writer to team up with Mr. Koppel so that they could create a memorable story that obeys all the facts. It was not hard for me to imagine what it is like when the electrical grid goes out. From my own experience of being without electricity during a blizzard I remember the thing that cheered me up was that I knew it would eventually end. But Ted Koppel is talking about a much longer stretch of time and all the ways that absence of a functioning electrical grid can effect us. companion book using the fact would wake people up to this future disaster looming in front of us.

If you have had the experience of living through prolonged outages, you will remember that you can only read in daylight, you really miss warm food, it can be a struggle to stay warm. How much food do you have in your pantry? What about medical supplies like insulin and other daily medical requirements. How will you manage?

I learned a tremendous amount of information about the effects of a massive outage of an electrical grid from his book. Now I do not feel so secure knowing that when a local transformer goes out, you cannot just replace it and all the reasons why. Also, he put up the Mormons as being the best prepared for disasters, natural or otherwise. They are better prepared than FEMA. We really need to prepared for the disaster in the future. Why not look at and copy plans that work?

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who would like to be prepared for the unpredictable.

I received a finished copy of this book as a win from LibraryThing from the publishers in exchange for a fair book review. My thoughts and feelings in this review are my own.

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well-known journalist Ted Koppel presents a case for why our government needs to tackle the consequences of a possible cyberattack on our country’s power grids. His research makes it clear that neither the government nor industry is prepared to quickly respond to the needs of the people nor recover quickly from the attack.

He interviewed executives at power companies and within the government. Since most electric power companies are privately owned, the federal government cannot impose security and maintenance standards upon the industry. It was surprising to learn that local distributors of electricity are not governed by any national regulatory standards. The industry regulates itself – votes on which regulations will be mandatory. Of course, industry does not want to spend money that they cannot be positive they would actually need to spend. If there is no attack, they consider the expenditure wasted. (Hmmm, kind of like our auto and house insurance…)

It seems that we are currently vulnerable to everything. And while both industry and government recognize the threat, no one moves on it. They all claim that it is hard to focus on possible threats when there are so many existing problems to deal with – a crisis that may never happen.

I found the book easy to read and absorb. Having work for the federal government I could clearly imagine the lack of action on such a critical issue. Overall, it is somewhat depressing knowing that we are not a country that could go without power for a long period of time without significant loss of life. But the book was interesting and I learned quite a bit.

Thank you to LibraryThing for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[leslieg88 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thought this book was going to be too alarmist and far fetched. I thought wrong. Ted Koppel interviews several prominent figures in the energy industry and does a great job of explaining the complicated way our country's electricity is set up and distributed. He bases his assertions on facts and interviews. Today, sadly, we are used to bombings, shootings, and whatnot as attacks on our country. The cyberattack on our electricity grid that Koppel warns is about is frightening and a whole new ball game. He describes the potential consequences and effects this could have and made me aware of issues that I did not even know were issues until I read this book. Definitely a must read!

[kphillip9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ted Koppel is one of the few "true" journalists left, and he has a very good point. Where would happen if the United States is cyberattacked? Something tells me we would have a Stephen King-like story madness and Koppel gets it.

[dougcornelius_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Should we worry about an attack on the Untied States' electrical infrastructure? Ted Koppel says "very much so" in his book: Lights Out. You probably better know Mr. Koppel as the longtime anchorman on ABC News and Nightline. In Lights Out he puts on his old school journalist hat and puts together an in depth investigation of the vulnerability of the US electrical infrastructure and effects of a cyber attack on it.

The book is divided in three parts. The first part looks at the vulnerabilities of the infrastructure. It's old. It's connected. Hackers can get at it and cause problems. He does not dive deep into the nuts and bolts. I'm not sure if that's because it's too complicated, he doesn't completely understand the vulnerabilities, or he does not want the book to be a manifesto on how to structure an attack. Personally, I think it's a bit of all three.

The second part covers how prepared the government is to handle a prolonged loss of part of the electrical grid. No surprise; It's not prepared.

He wraps up the book with a look at what individual citizens are doing. He spends a long time looking at the Mormon church. Part of the church's dogma is to have its members be prepared for a long period of self-reliance. Church members are taught to stockpile food in their homes. The central church organization has a large infrastructure to stockpile and distribute food.

He spends some time with survivalists, but dismisses some of their tin-foil hat conspiracies. The truth is that cities can only survive for a few days without electricity. The lack of food stockpiles, water supply and waste disposal will quickly cause problems.

Given the compliance focus on cybersecurity, I thought this might be an interesting book to read when the publisher offered me a copy for review.

In the first section on vulnerability, you guess what he says he found. It's just a matter of "when" there is an attack on the electrical infrastructure, not "if." In part he blames federalism, regulation, and de-regulation on the situation. There is no one regulatory body in place to impose cybersecurity standards. Ownership of the infrastructure is split into thousands of companies, with different business models and different abilities to spend the time and money needed thwart a cyber attack.

I found the second section of the book to be the better of the three. It's also the part where Mr. Koppel is able to use his star power and connection to meet with current and former government officials who would be responsible for dealing with an attack like this.

[sjfrancis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard about it. I’ve always wondered what would happen, what the USA would do if everything electronic was suddenly shut down by a cataclysmic event or otherwise. This book brings to light with scary facts, opinions from the experts and those everyday people that are already preparing for such an event. Koppel is a journalist. Hence, his writing is a bit dry. Think school text book. Not everyone will enjoy this book because of that, but he presents the evidence that shows what I knew all along, what a great many already know. Woe to the US should an enemy shut down one or all of our power grids. Nothing will work. There’ll be no electricity to run televisions, or radios or computers. Banks can’t process money in or out. Pharmacies won’t be able to get in medication. Supermarkets won’t be able to bring groceries in. Fact is, as Koppel shows, the United States is the country that is most dependent on electricity. Metropolitan areas will feel the power loss first and foremost. What will you do should this scenario play out for not just hours, but days, weeks even months? Would you be prepared? The government certainly isn’t. What is even more scary is that this scenario is probably.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from blogging for books in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[kremsa-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy of Lights Out by Ted Koppel from the LibraryThing Early Review Giveaway. After reading this book I now have something else to worry about! Ted Koppel's expose about the possibilities and consequences of a terrorist cyber attack on the United States power grid seems too real to discount. He does a very thorough job of explaining our weaknesses and how unprepared we are for such an event in a non-hysterical presentation. The government's seemingly "stick our heads in the sand" mentality is frustrating. After seeing the aftermath of widespread power outages after Superstorm Sandy and the havoc it wreaked, it is easy to see what a more widespread power loss could do. Hopefully enough people read this book to understand the repercussions of a massive and prolonged power outage and our government develops a concrete and tested plan for preventing and surviving such an event.