A Pearl Harbor-style attack is possible, the report by the Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Task Force on Homeland and National Security warned. EMPs have the capability to create a wave of energy that destroys electronic equipment and could knock out power grids as well as crippling the internet.
The report claims without power, the US would witness rioting and famine as the country plunged into chaos.
It said the EMP attack would result in a meltdown in both the economy and society, killing between 70 to 90 percent of people.
The report said: “Some people might think that things similar to the Pearl Harbor incident are unlikely to take place during the Information Age.
“In their own words, a highly computerised open society like the United States is extremely vulnerable to electronic attacks from all sides.
“This is because the US economy, from banks to telephone systems and from power plants to iron and steel works, relies entirely on computer networks.
“When a country grows increasingly powerful economically and technologically… it will become increasingly dependent on modern information systems.”
And report also claimed Taiwan military intelligence believe China stole the design for a Super-EMP nuclear weapon from US labs.
Concerns of a cyberwar attack were raised by Andy Barratt, of cybersecurity consultancy firm Coalfire, who claimed it could already be happening.
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“Suddenly this is going to get explosive. And I think that’s the modern warfare we need to look out for.”
Tensions between the US and China have escalated over recent months with President Donald Trump accusing the Communist nation of purposely starting the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Mr Trump previously said he was considering imposing tariffs on the Communist nation.
He also claimed the World Health Organisation has been covering up the outbreak with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
Mr Trump blamed China for the global pandemic and accused them of a state cover-up after making a “horrible mistake”.
He said: “Well, I don’t think there’s any question about it. We wanted to go in, they didn’t want us to go in.
“Things are coming out that are pretty compelling. I don’t think there’s any question.
“Personally, I think they made a horrible mistake, and they didn’t want to admit it.”
Trump condemned the Communist nation for not alerting global leaders on the severity of the virus and said China failed to admit their mistakes.