The numbers are staggering and they should terrify every American family. According to Check Point Research, U.S. utilities faced a near 70% jump in cyberattacks in 2025 compared to the same period in 2023. That's not a typo—seventy percent. While most of these attacks haven't yet crippled major infrastructure, cybersecurity experts warn that a coordinated assault could be devastating, impacting essential services and causing substantial financial losses across entire regions.
But here's what those statistics don't capture: when hackers target the power grid, they're not just attacking electricity. They're attacking every single way your family communicates.
The Hidden Communication Crisis in Cyberattacks
When most people think about power outages, they picture flickering lights and warm refrigerators. But modern cyberattacks on electrical infrastructure create a cascade of communication failures that most families are completely unprepared for. Cell towers require constant electricity to function. Internet service providers depend on power for their equipment. Even landline systems, where they still exist, rely on electronic switching systems that go dark when the grid fails.
The North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) has documented how geopolitical conflicts, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ongoing tensions in the Middle East, have dramatically increased cyber threats to power grids. According to NERC officials, "We're going to be very vigilant during this current election cycle," acknowledging that major political events often trigger increased cyberattack activity.
The 2015 cyberattack on Ukraine's power grid serves as a chilling preview of what American families could face. Russian-backed hackers didn't just knock out electricity for 230,000 people—they systematically destroyed the utility's ability to communicate with substations while controlling key equipment. Families were left in the dark both literally and figuratively, with no way to reach each other or coordinate during the crisis.
Why Your Smartphone Won't Save You
Americans have become dangerously dependent on digital communication systems that all share a single point of failure: the electrical grid. Consider your family's current communication strategy. How do you reach your spouse, children, or elderly parents? Text messages, phone calls, social media, email—every single one of these methods requires electricity to function, either to power your device, charge it, or maintain the network infrastructure that carries your messages.
The vulnerability runs deeper than most realize. Modern "smart grid" technologies, designed to improve efficiency, have actually increased cyberattack risks by connecting power systems to the internet. As one expert noted, "any power grid connected to the internet is vulnerable to cyberattacks. Hackers can gain access to the framework of the grid and manipulate it to gain unauthorised remote control of the entire electricity supply system."
During Spain's recent massive power outage that affected millions across Spain, Portugal, and France, mobile networks stopped working because power to cell towers was cut off. Airports shut down, railway systems failed, and families found themselves completely cut off from each other with no way to coordinate meetups or share critical information.
The Psychology of Communication Panic
There's a cruel irony in how we've structured our modern communication habits. People experience genuine anxiety when Instagram goes down for thirty minutes, yet the same individuals have no backup plan for when the entire communication infrastructure fails for days or weeks. We've trained ourselves to expect instant connectivity, which makes us even more helpless when that connectivity disappears.
Emergency management experts consistently report that communication breakdown is one of the most psychologically devastating aspects of major disasters. Families separated during Hurricane Katrina described the agony of not knowing if loved ones were safe as more traumatic than losing homes or possessions. The uncertainty becomes unbearable when you have no way to even attempt contact.
Beyond the Immediate Crisis
Cyberattacks on power infrastructure don't just affect the immediate emergency period. The Lloyd's of London insurance company developed a plausible scenario for an attack on the Eastern Interconnection electrical grid, which services roughly half the United States. Their hypothetical attack would leave 93 million people without power, cause economic losses of $243 billion, and result in a small but measurable increase in death rates as health and safety systems fail.
In such a scenario, even if power were restored to most areas within days, the communication challenges would persist. Damaged cell towers require weeks to repair. Internet infrastructure needs extensive testing before being brought back online. Families could remain separated and unable to coordinate for extended periods even after basic services resume.
The psychological impact extends beyond individual families. The American public would likely demand a forceful response to such an attack, potentially reshaping U.S. geopolitical interests for decades. The social fabric of communities depends on people's ability to check on neighbors, coordinate mutual aid, and share critical information—all impossible when communication systems fail.
What Resilient Families Do Differently
The families who successfully navigate communication blackouts share one key characteristic: they've planned for offline coordination before the crisis hits. This isn't about becoming a "prepper" or building a bunker. It's about acknowledging that our hyper-connected world has a massive single point of failure and taking practical steps to route around it.
Resilient families establish multiple independent communication pathways. They identify physical meetup locations that don't require digital coordination. They practice using communication methods that function without electricity or internet access. Most importantly, they create physical backup systems—printed information that remains accessible when all digital systems fail.
The most prepared families think beyond basic contact information. They consider resource coordination, understanding that during extended outages, knowing where supplies are located becomes as important as knowing where people are located. They establish visual communication systems using symbols and signs that can convey information even when verbal communication isn't possible.
The Infrastructure Reality Check
The United States' electrical grid was largely designed in an era when the most sophisticated communication device in most homes was a rotary telephone. Today, that same infrastructure supports everything from smartphones to smart home systems, creating vulnerabilities that were impossible to anticipate when the system was built.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government does not have a good understanding of the scale of potential impacts from attacks on distribution systems—the part of the electrical grid that actually delivers power to homes and businesses. This knowledge gap means that even our emergency response agencies are operating with incomplete information about how severe communication disruptions could become.
The private sector carries responsibility for about 85% of the nation's critical infrastructure, including power systems. But individual companies optimizing for efficiency and cost-effectiveness aren't necessarily considering the broader social implications of communication system failures during cyberattacks.
Building Your Family's Offline Communication Strategy
Creating an effective offline communication plan requires thinking differently about how family coordination actually works. Most people assume that if they can't reach someone immediately, they'll try again later. But during infrastructure failures, "later" might be days or weeks away.
The most effective family communication plans operate like a relay race rather than a phone tree. Instead of expecting to reach everyone directly, families establish a sequence of physical locations and time-based meetup schedules that allow for gradual reunification even when no real-time communication is possible.
Smart families also consider the geography of their daily lives. Where do family members work, go to school, or spend time regularly? What are the most likely routes between these locations? Which meetup points remain accessible if major roads are blocked or public transportation fails?
Resource coordination becomes critical during extended outages. Families need to know not just where people are, but where supplies, tools, and other resources are located. This includes everything from backup power sources to first aid supplies to cash reserves that remain useful when electronic payment systems fail.
The Time Factor
Perhaps the most underestimated aspect of communication failures during cyberattacks is time. People accustomed to instant messaging and immediate phone calls struggle to adapt to communication methods that operate on different time scales. Ham radio check-ins happen at scheduled intervals. Physical meetup locations require travel time. Leaving messages at central locations means information travels at walking speed rather than light speed.
Successful family communication plans account for these time delays by building in patience and persistence. They establish check-in schedules that don't depend on real-time confirmation. They create redundant pathways so that if one communication attempt fails, alternative methods can be tried without starting the entire process over.
Taking Action Today
The 70% increase in cyberattacks on U.S. utilities isn't a future threat—it's happening right now. Every day that families delay creating offline communication plans is another day they remain vulnerable to the kind of coordinated infrastructure attack that cybersecurity experts consider not just possible, but likely.
The good news is that building family communication resilience doesn't require technical expertise or significant expense. It requires recognizing that our digital convenience has created a critical vulnerability and taking practical steps to address it before the crisis hits.
Ready to protect your family from communication blackouts during cyberattacks? Rubberband helps you create a comprehensive offline communication plan in just minutes. Our guided platform walks your family through establishing backup contact methods, physical meetup strategies, and resource coordination that works even when the power grid fails. Don't wait for the lights to go out—start building your family's communication resilience today.