Cyber Retaliation Risks Rise After US-Venezuela Operation

CISA Warns of Retaliatory Cyber Action From Hostile State Actors After Venezuela Chris Riotta (@chrisriotta) • January 8, 2026

Cybersecurity and national security officials are warning that the U.S. operation in Venezuela has raised the threat level for critical infrastructure, with the nation's cyber defense agency calling for "heightened vigilance across all sectors."

CISA Acting Director for Cybersecurity Madhu Gottumukkala said in a statement to Information Security Media Group the nation's critical infrastructure "faces persistent and increasingly sophisticated cyber risks from China, Russia and other hostile nation-state actors" following the U.S. raid in Caracas to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

U.S. officials have not publicly detailed the tactics used, but analysts say the U.S. may have blended cyber and kinetic capabilities to knock out a substantial portion of the nation's power grid as forces descended on Caracas in the middle ...