(Kitco News) – Is the U.S. at risk of a massive cyberattack in the next eight months? The U.S. election year is “the most opportune” time to carry out a cyber 9/11 on U.S. infrastructure, warned Brandon Weichert, geopolitical analyst and author of ‘Winning Space.’

The geopolitical threats keep escalating in the first two months of the year, and the latest one could trigger a potential kinetic war in space, Weichert told Michelle Makori, Lead Anchor and Editor-in-Chief at Kitco News.

Last week, the White House confirmed that Russia has developed a “troubling” emerging anti-satellite weapon. U.S. President Joe Biden made a public appearance to reassure the public that there’s “no nuclear threat” to the U.S. as Russia is developing this weapon but did confirm that intelligence indicates Russians are working on a weapon to attack U.S. satellites.

This was in response to Mike Turner, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who made a public statement about an unspecified “serious national-security threat” to the U.S., asking President Biden to declassify the information related to this.

Since Turner’s announcement, the U.S. government has reportedly been in direct contact with Russia, warning Moscow not to deploy a new nuclear-armed anti-satellite weapon, stressing that it violates the Outer Space Treaty.

Many geopolitical experts like Weichert are concerned that this anti-satellite weapon could be used to attack satellites that are critical to America’s military and civilian capabilities.

“This is what I was warning about,” Weichert said. “They’re going to use either co-orbital satellites or a laser to try to blind our systems to buy them time, create a window of opportunity for their forces on earth to exploit while we’re still deaf, dumb, and blind.”

To learn about what kind of weapon Russia is developing and how devastating it could be for the U.S., watch the video above. 

The impact could be massive, Weichert pointed out. “It’s going to knock out our banking,” he said. “You won’t be able to dial 911. You won’t be able to use your debit card, your credit card, or Apple Pay to get gas at the pump. Literally, all of our electronic life in the West will ground to a halt if enough of those satellites are taken out.”

Weichert believes that this could also be a strategy by Moscow to push for diplomatic resolution to the war with Ukraine that would allow for more concessions to Russia.

Weichert has been warning about Russia making this move for several years — appearing on Kitco with this message at the end of 2022. Catch up on that interview here.

These warnings also come as cyberattacks surge in the U.S., with FBI Director Christopher Wray warning that Chinese hacking attempts are reaching unprecedented levels.

During the annual Munich Security Conference, Wray said that Beijing is increasingly inserting “offensive weapons within our critical infrastructure poised to attack whenever Beijing decides the time is right.”

This week, the U.S. saw significant cell outages, with AT&T’s network failing for thousands of its customers. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are now investigating whether the incident resulted from a cyberattack or a hack.

Pharmacies across the U.S. also reported delays in prescription orders due to a cyberattack against Change Healthcare — one of the nation’s largest healthcare technology companies.

Cyber 9/11: This year is the most ‘opportune’ time to strike

The U.S. election year is the most “opportune” time to carry out a large-scale cyberattack, according to Weichert, who sees a chance of that happening between 75-80%.

“2024 is the fulcrum point in the 21st century for the United States. Not only will it determine how our country develops politically and economically over the next 30 or 40 years. But it’s also going to determine if we remain the superpower,” he explained. “One of the ways our enemies are looking at eroding that is not only with Space Pearl Harbor but also with a cyber 9/11,” Weichert explained.

If a major cyberattack were to take place, the most likely timing would be the next eight months. The goal is to create chaos and confusion in order to distract the U.S. from other geopolitical conflicts, he added.

Weichert lists several top geopolitical focal points that could flare up into global-scale conflicts this year. For insights, watch the video above. 

To find out whether a major cyberattack is too late to stop, how to prepare for it, what to expect from the U.S. as a response, and how the U.S. Space Force fits in, watch the video above.