An event occurred wherein the city of St. Paul was hit by a major cyberattack by unknown digital assailants. I’ve enclosed several links below (1, 2, 3, 4) which describe this attack which shut down many city services. I’ll also cite some information from a Twin Cities newspaper, but all broadcast and print media covering the story agree on several facts: As this post is being written, no one knows who perpetrated the attack and no one knows why it happened. No one knows what data was stolen and why many city services were paralyzed. St. Paul is not the only municipality that has been struck by such cyber attacks. One of the links shows a map of circa thirty American cities which have been similarly struck. Baltimore and St. Paul are apparently the largest cities hit by such attacks.
This cyberattack reveals how weak the digital defenses of American cities are at present. It is likely that many US states are also similarly vulnerable to digital attacks. It is my impression that as digital systems have spread everywhere in society, the digital attackers seem to be light-years ahead of the cyber-defenders. I recall articles over the years asserting that many digital programs have “back-doors” into their databases which can be used by government law-enforcement and anti-terrorist personnel. If this is true, then that explains why cyber-defenders always seem to be at a disadvantage. The cyber-crooks seem to be very skilled at finding those digital back-doors and exploiting them. Over the years, I’m sure you have also seen the stories about cyber-crooks cracking into the databases of banks, government agencies, etc. and stealing masses of private information.
In an interesting side-bar to this story, the Minnesota governor activated a special National Guard unit which is trained in cyber-defense against bad actors. I hope they have the skills to be of assistance as the news media stories indicate the FBI is in charge of the overall investigation. One media source reported that only four US states even have such a unit to activate. Since modern warfare will inevitably include digital warfare, it would make sense for every state and large municipality to have digital defense units to call on in the event of digital attacks. St. Paul’s digital systems were mostly down, but its 911 service remained functional. On July 31, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reported that “It remained unclear …who was behind the attack, what data they were seeking and whether they obtained it.” So far, the digital attackers have been able to cover their tracks.
I grew up and spent much of my life in the pre-digital age where mechanical/analog systems processed data slower but data was much more secure. It may sound incongruous to modern readers, but we may be entering an era where it is impossible to keep digitally-stored personal and national security information safe and secret. Indeed, it may be necessary to go back to mechanical/analog systems which cannot be digitally hacked. At the very least, all digital information systems ought to have analog back-up files so essential services can continue. With AI platforms seemingly being deployed everywhere, the danger to digitally-stored personal information and national security secrets will almost surely be multiplied. It may be that in order to keep any digital information secure and secret, it will be necessary to store and transmit digital data in connections outside the internet and via systems which have no wireless, WiFi connections. But wouldn’t that be so clumsy that it would be easier just to use analog systems for important communications? Will land-line phones become popular again?
Allow me to offer an example of how important mechanical/ analog systems may become. The US Defense Department is planning to replace the USA’s aging Minuteman nuclear missiles with a new, digital Sentinel missile system. The Sentinel system is so over-budget that it may never be built. I would suggest that it should be cancelled and that the Minuteman missile system should be kept active indefinitely as it has a huge advantage over the Sentinel system. The Minuteman missile system may be the most secure part of America’s nuclear triad deterrence system precisely because it is so old it has analog/mechanical controls and it has no digital control systems for enemy nations to hack into. You can be sure Russia, China, Iran and other enemies of America and the West will be using AI platforms to try to hack into America’s strategic nuclear forces and shut them down so our enemies can easily win a war vs. the USA. If the Minuteman missiles have only legacy mechanical/analog control systems (which is my understanding), the Minuteman missiles are impervious to cyber-attacks. The ultra-expensive, new Sentinel system will be vulnerable to AI-empowered cyber attacks from the time it is deployed. It may even be useful to call your representatives in Congress to urge them to keep the survivable Minuteman missiles system and cancel the way over-budget and digitally-vulnerable Sentinel missile system. Indeed, the increasing vulnerability of all US/Western military weaponry to AI-enhanced cyber attacks begs this question: Shouldn’t all major military platforms (warplanes, warships, tanks, artillery systems, etc.) all have analog/mechanical back-up control systems so they can continue to be usable in the event of a successful enemy/AI digital attack? Also, shouldn’t all domestic civilian infrastructure (electric and gas utility equipment, water/sewer systems, FAA control radars and communications systems, etc.) all have back-up analog/mechanical control systems to ensure continued functioning of vital infrastructures in the event of a successful digital attack upon their controls? I hope the US military is rapidly developing its own offensive digital attack capabilities to use AI-powered attack capabilities to shut down enemy weaponry and their communications and control capabilities.
The cyberattack against St. Paul, Minnesota’s capital city, was just a forerunner of what can/will happen in the future. With the deployment of AI into digital systems and military weaponry, we are entering a “brave new world” where small nations with powerful and advanced AI tools can become major actors in global warfare. Future wars may be won or lost not with bullets but with sophisticated binary codes.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FRaJhWU4 - https://www.usatoday.com/
story/news/nation/2025/07/29/ st-paul-cyber-attack- minnesota/85430911007/ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=eo6Pfs2w0Ng - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=YbqTyhdsXOE
