The Hack That Could Take Down Any American City

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Picture this happening in the same day: SUVs steer themselves off the road; hospital’s medical records all mysteriously vanish from databases around the nation; subway cars screech to a halt in the underground, stranding thousands. These are the real consequences of a major computer hack on the United States. And Homeland Security officials are saying it’s only a matter of time before a digital attack of that magnitude happens.

New York magazine’s Reeves Wiedeman envisions how this attack would go down, supported by recent incidents that seem to be happening with greater frequency. According to the FBI, victims of cyber attacks have paid more than $200 million in ransoms in 2016 alone, compared to just $25 million in 2015. Read Wiedeman’s story here.