US Leveraged Cyberattacks in Operation to Extract Venezuelan President Maduro
In January, the US reportedly used cyberattacks as part of a covert operation to extract Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to The New York Times. Officials briefed on the mission, dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, confirmed that US hackers disabled power grids and air defense radars in Caracas.
President Donald Trump later hinted at the involvement of US cyber capabilities, stating that "the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have." While Trump did not explicitly confirm a cyberattack, experts like Robert Lee, CEO of industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos, suggested that such an operation was technically feasible, citing past incidents like the 2016–2017 Ukraine power grid attacks.
Initial reports speculated that a "blackout bomb" (a graphite bomb causing short circuits) or physical sabotage may have caused the outages, as Venezuela’s Energy Minister shared footage of damaged power infrastructure. However, The New York Times later reported that cyber weapons were indeed used, allowing US operatives to cut power in targeted areas including near the military base where Maduro was captured and restore it within minutes. Some neighborhoods experienced outages lasting up to 36 hours.
The operation also involved cyberattacks to disrupt Venezuela’s air defense radar systems. A recent analysis by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggested that the mission relied on a "layered effects" strategy, combining cyber tools with kinetic attacks like jamming and graphite bombs. Venezuela’s deteriorating power grid, weakened by years of neglect, was identified as a key vulnerability.
While cyberattacks played a role, RUSI concluded that the operation’s success depended on a multi-domain approach, with kinetic methods providing more reliable results than hacking alone.
Source: https://www.securityweek.com/new-reports-reinforce-cyberattacks-role-in-maduro-capture-blackout/
InfraShield cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/infrashield-com
"id": "INF1768877763",
"linkid": "infrashield-com",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "6/2016",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "6",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the economy of geographical region"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Civilian population, military '
'operations',
'industry': 'Public Sector / Defense',
'location': 'Caracas, Venezuela',
'name': 'Government of Venezuela',
'size': 'National',
'type': 'Government'}],
'attack_vector': ['Power grid hacking', 'Air defense radar disruption'],
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-01',
'description': 'The US reportedly used cyberattacks as part of a covert '
'operation (Operation Absolute Resolve) to extract Venezuelan '
'President Nicolás Maduro. US hackers disabled power grids and '
'air defense radars in Caracas, enabling targeted outages near '
'a military base where Maduro was captured. The operation '
'combined cyber tools with kinetic attacks like jamming and '
'graphite bombs.',
'impact': {'downtime': 'Up to 36 hours in some neighborhoods',
'operational_impact': 'Disruption of military and civilian '
'infrastructure',
'systems_affected': ['Power grids', 'Air defense radar systems']},
'investigation_status': 'Publicly disclosed but details remain classified',
'lessons_learned': 'Cyberattacks alone may not be sufficient for mission '
'success; multi-domain approaches (cyber + kinetic) are '
'more effective. Critical infrastructure vulnerabilities '
'(e.g., power grids) can be exploited for geopolitical '
'objectives.',
'motivation': 'Regime change / Extraction of Venezuelan President',
'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': ['Venezuela’s deteriorating power '
'grid infrastructure',
'State-sponsored cyber '
'capabilities targeting critical '
'systems']},
'recommendations': ['Strengthen critical infrastructure cybersecurity '
'defenses',
'Implement redundancy in power and defense systems',
'Develop multi-layered incident response strategies',
'Monitor state-sponsored cyber threats targeting national '
'security'],
'references': [{'source': 'The New York Times'},
{'source': 'Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)'}],
'threat_actor': 'US Government',
'title': 'US Cyberattacks in Operation to Extract Venezuelan President Maduro',
'type': ['Cyberattack', 'State-Sponsored Operation'],
'vulnerability_exploited': ['Weakened power grid infrastructure',
'Deteriorating cyber defenses']}