The US power grid and banking system are at risk from cyber terrorists, believes a think tank which staged a digital doomsday exercise and determined that authorities would not be able to cope with such an attack.

Former US Secretary of Homeland security Michael Chertoff and other former government leaders spent a day posing as members of the National Security Council.

“Everything we do in modern life pretty much all over the world depends upon the Internet,” Chertoff told RT.

The simulated attack was backed up by a simulated news report. It starts with the college basketball March Madness application for cellphones. The supposed hacker used it to gain access to all the information stored inside.

The fear grows that with the push of a couple buttons and an internet connection, experienced hackers could get inside personal computers. Except for shutting the system down completely, they can also take total control of one’s personal information.

“[In such a case] peoples’ bank accounts may begin to either increase or decrease by a random amount,” Chertoff said. “That would not only mess up the banks in terms of their capital, but it would cause a crisis of confidence in the banking system.”

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