Multiple foreign governments have utilized cyber-attacks to hack into high-level controls of United States essential services. Reports Bloomberg News:

Several foreign governments have hacked into U.S. energy, water and fuel distribution systems and might damage essential services, the top national security official said.

Those intrusions have left the U.S. vulnerable to a cyber-attack that will cause significant loss of life or physical damage one day, National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers told the House intelligence committee at a hearing in Washington today. Rogers said such an attack will occur during his tenure.

“This is not theoretical,” Rogers said. Hacking attacks on U.S. networks are “literally costing us hundreds of billions of dollars” and will have “truly significant, almost catastrophic, failures if we don’t take action.”

Rogers also predicted that the United States could soon be "under attack" from foreign governments.

Hackers from the Chinese, Russian and Iranian governments have gained access to vital U.S. computers and could launch destructive attacks that include shutting down power grids, Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the intelligence committee, said during the hearing.

The NSA director didn’t identify any countries but didn’t dispute that China, Russia and Iran have infiltrated U.S. critical infrastructure to carry out destructive attacks. Rogers said he also sees a “troubling” trend in which foreign governments hire criminals to carry out hacking attacks on U.S. networks in order to obscure their involvement.