At a Glance
- The US government has publicly been linked to its first-ever cyberattack that caused a nationwide blackout, targeting Venezuela.
- Sources told The New York Times that US Cyber Command also disabled Venezuelan air defense radar ahead of the incursion.
- Power was restored quickly and no hospital deaths were reported.
- Why it matters: The operation marks a new threshold in state-backed cyber warfare, previously seen only from Russian hackers.
US Cyber Command carried out a cyberattack that knocked out Venezuela’s power grid during what Washington dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” unnamed US officials told The New York Times. It is the first publicly reported instance of the US government causing a blackout through hacking.
How the Attack Unfolded
According to officials cited by the Times:
- Power outage: A cyber intrusion shut down Venezuela’s national grid.
- Air defense: US hackers simultaneously disabled radar systems to clear the way for the incursion.
- Restoration: Electricity came back online quickly, reportedly to limit civilian harm.
- Casualties: Backup generators kept hospitals running, preventing fatalities.
In a brief statement to the Times, Cyber Command said it “was proud to support Operation Absolute Resolve,” the official name for the Venezuela mission.
First of Its Kind for US
Until now, only Russia’s Sandworm group had used cyberattacks to trigger blackouts, cutting power in parts of Ukraine in at least three confirmed incidents starting in 2015. When a News Of Fort Worth reporter asked why Washington had not condemned a 2016 Sandworm blackout in Kyiv, former Trump cyber adviser Tom Bossert replied that the US wanted room to conduct similar operations. “If you and I put ourselves in the Captain America chair and decide to go to war with someone, we might turn off power and communications to give ourselves a strategic and tactical advantage,” he said.
It is unclear whether the US considered itself at war with Venezuela when the attack occurred. Either way, the strike represents another unprecedented move by an administration that has repeatedly broken with established norms.
ICE Accidentally Hired a Journalist
Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed applied for a deportation-officer post while covering an ICE recruitment expo, never expecting to be accepted. She skipped emails, drug tests, and paperwork, yet still received a “Welcome to ICE!” message with a start date. Her publicly searchable criticism of the agency and the Trump administration did not block her hiring.
The Department of Homeland Security announced in December that it had received more than 220,000 applications for over 10,000 ICE officer positions. Jedeed’s experience raises questions about how thoroughly candidates were vetted.
Broken AI Tool Sent Untrained Agents into the Field
An artificial-intelligence resume screener meant to flag ICE applicants with prior law-enforcement experience malfunctioned, according to two law-enforcement officials who spoke with NBC News. The system placed anyone whose résumé contained the word “officer” into a shortened online course instead of the required eight-week in-person academy. Roughly 200 hires were affected, including applicants who merely wrote that they aspired to be an ICE officer. A DHS spokesperson said the individuals later completed full training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
Palantir App Directs ICE Raids
Palantir’s data-analytics platform, already known to support deportation operations, was revealed in detail by 404 Media. The company built an app called Enhanced Leads Identification & Targeting for Enforcement (ELITE) that maps human targets and assigns confidence scores based on government and commercial data. Agents use the tool to select which neighborhoods to raid and which individuals to arrest.
Senator Ron Wyden told 404 Media: “This app allows ICE to find the closest person to arrest and disappear, using government and commercial data, with the help of Palantir and Trump’s Big Brother databases. It makes a mockery of the idea that ICE is trying to make our country safer.”
Iranian Activists Rely on Smuggled Starlink Units
Amid Iran’s near-total internet shutdown during nationwide protests, activists are smuggling Starlink satellite modems to stay online. Sources who spoke to the Times estimate about 50,000 devices are now inside the country, allowing users to share news of the government crackdown that has killed thousands. Activists worry that Elon Musk could switch the service off, as he has done in China, where he maintains business interests.
Key Takeaways
- The Venezuela blackout cyberattack sets a new precedent for US offensive cyber operations.
- Rapid power restoration and backup generators limited civilian harm.
- ICE recruitment surges have coincided with vetting lapses, AI tool failures, and data-driven targeting software.
- Iranian protesters are circumventing one of the world’s strictest internet blackouts with consumer satellite gear.
