{"id":3395,"date":"2026-07-08T10:23:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395"},"modified":"2026-07-08T10:23:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:23:13","slug":"what-happens-if-china-hacks-the-us-water-supply-war-game-volt-typhoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395","title":{"rendered":"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paywall\"><span class=\"lead-in-text-callout\">Day two of<\/span> the simulation arrives, and Corman lays out the new reality: Numerous water mains across the country have broken. The man-made drought has spread to hospitals, data centers, refrigeration, and manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Then Corman throws another curveball: He plays a prerecorded video statement from a fictional military official appealing to the insurance companies\u2019 help in responding to the geopolitical threat posed by China, the first time that country\u2019s name has been spoken in the game so far. \u201cI&#8217;m most concerned about our ability to protect our military mobility, a key element of national security,\u201d the official tells them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Corman hands out the day-two assignment: As the disruption spirals outward, how will they prioritize <em>now<\/em> which of the water utilities deserve their resources? The \u201cbiggest-customers-first\u201d or \u201cfirst-come, first-serve\u201d answers from the prior round, just a few minutes earlier, now seem hopelessly naive. Will they focus on restoring water in places where they can save the most lives, such as hospital-dense cities? Or will they seek to minimize economic harm? Or heed the military\u2019s request to focus on national security, essentially prioritizing the military\u2019s response to China\u2019s potential invasion of Taiwan?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Fortunately, no one in the room is a monster. After 15 minutes of breakout conversations, the teams around the room render the same verdict, that their first priority will be to save human lives\u2014though none spells out how they\u2019ll make the endless impossible decisions that follow from that answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Only one person, after all six teams have given that same answer, speaks up to raise an uncomfortable point. Prioritizing harm to people above all else may not be an option. \u201cThe easy answer is public safety, human life,\u201d he says. \u201cThe more difficult one is when you do have regulators or someone calling, shareholders asking questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">\u201cIf Treasury is calling and asking numbers, and we\u2019re saying we\u2019re focused on human life, I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the actual talk track,\u201d he goes on, using a sales term for a phone script of talking points for client conversations. Or, he adds, if an official is telling the company it needs to focus on telecommunications or \u201cdual use\u201d infrastructure\u2014meaning things that might have military importance\u2014that might become \u201cpriority number one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">In other words, taking the most direct action to protect people from harm in the midst of a catastrophic cyberattack might require breaking contracts, flouting the military\u2019s demands, or directly contradicting a larger US government strategy in the early days of an unfolding war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">\u201cWe didn\u2019t agree on that as a table,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s not going to be a consensus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">At this point, abruptly and mercifully, Corman ends the game to start a lessons-learned session. During this round, he\u2019s put up a slide that represents some of the infrastructure disrupted by the second-order effects of the hackers\u2019 cyberattacks. Next to each is a long line of multicolored dollar signs and outlines of people, representing financial loss and human casualties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">There\u2019s no point in counting these as if they\u2019re some sort of score or demerit, Corman assures me when I ask afterward. They\u2019re less a quantified measure of losses than a qualitative assurance that things have gotten very bad. He\u2019s gotten his point across: If this game has any winners, they\u2019re not in the room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/what-happens-if-china-hacks-the-us-water-supply-war-game-volt-typhoon\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Day two of the simulation arrives, and Corman lays out the new reality: Numerous water mains across the country have broken. The man-made drought has spread to hospitals, data centers, refrigeration, and manufacturing. Then Corman throws another curveball: He plays a prerecorded video statement from a fictional military official appealing to the insurance companies\u2019 help [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[280,250,350,396,73],"class_list":["post-3395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-china","tag-cybersecurity","tag-hacking","tag-longreads","tag-water"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Burst water mains. Evacuated hospitals. In a closed-door simulation, insurers played out their response to a mass disruption by China\u2019s Volt Typhoon hackers\u2014and found a nightmare scenario.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Burst water mains. Evacuated hospitals. In a closed-door simulation, insurers played out their response to a mass disruption by China\u2019s Volt Typhoon hackers\u2014and found a nightmare scenario.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T10:23:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SILVYBRAND\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\"},\"headline\":\"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T10:23:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395\"},\"wordCount\":589,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"china\",\"cybersecurity\",\"hacking\",\"longreads\",\"water\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gadgets\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395\",\"name\":\"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T10:23:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"Burst water mains. Evacuated hospitals. In a closed-door simulation, insurers played out their response to a mass disruption by China\u2019s Volt Typhoon hackers\u2014and found a nightmare scenario.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":670},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?p=3395#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"description\":\"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg\",\"width\":1115,\"height\":522,\"caption\":\"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3\",\"name\":\"SILVYBRAND\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SILVYBRAND\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/silvybrand.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"Burst water mains. Evacuated hospitals. In a closed-door simulation, insurers played out their response to a mass disruption by China\u2019s Volt Typhoon hackers\u2014and found a nightmare scenario.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","og_description":"Burst water mains. Evacuated hospitals. In a closed-door simulation, insurers played out their response to a mass disruption by China\u2019s Volt Typhoon hackers\u2014and found a nightmare scenario.","og_url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395","og_site_name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","article_published_time":"2026-07-08T10:23:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":670,"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SILVYBRAND","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SILVYBRAND","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395"},"author":{"name":"SILVYBRAND","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3"},"headline":"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out","datePublished":"2026-07-08T10:23:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395"},"wordCount":589,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg","keywords":["china","cybersecurity","hacking","longreads","water"],"articleSection":["Gadgets"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395","name":"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-08T10:23:13+00:00","description":"Burst water mains. Evacuated hospitals. In a closed-door simulation, insurers played out their response to a mass disruption by China\u2019s Volt Typhoon hackers\u2014and found a nightmare scenario.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/WARGAME-TopArt-v4.jpg","width":1280,"height":670},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=3395#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","description":"Your daily dose of lifestyle, fashion, travel, beauty, and inspiration \u2014 living boldly, stylishly, and confidently.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#organization","name":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SILVYBRAND-LOGO.jpg","width":1115,"height":522,"caption":"Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bdc6818a5b6ef5b9745e468818e37f3","name":"SILVYBRAND","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e7db54afd7d090e59e1a481fd3e6812d467eb2a3b81e7a3092023acfc59a496b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SILVYBRAND"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/silvybrand.com"],"url":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}