Terror: Electromagnetic Pulse
In “Secure the US against bloodless terrorist warfare” the Christian Science Monitor talks about the effects of a “detonation of a nuclear weapon at high altitude, causing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP)“:
Systems running on large computer banks like Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) modules that manage electricity grids, power stations, air traffic control, electronic banking, railway directional indicators, dam doors, and water treatment plants, among others, would be severely affected. Any computer or microprocessor within a 200-mile radius of the blast would probably be destroyed, along with all its data. Cars and trucks wouldn’t start, making it impossible to move food, fuel, and other vital necessities of everyday life. Backup generators would be rendered useless, affecting primary care facilities like hospitals and clinics.
EMP effects would be magnified by the codependencies in our SCADA systems – power loss affecting telecommunications systems upon which banking transactions rely, for example. Vulnerability to these cascading effects was seen during hurricanes Katrina and Rita late last year where a major American city came to a virtual standstill. As we are now seeing, it would take years to rebuild.
Source and more info: The Christian Science Monitor