FCC Warns Communications Infrastructure Attacks Are Rising

FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty says infrastructure vandalism has become both a public safety and national security concern, warning that network outages can disrupt emergency responders, hospitals, airports, and other critical services.

According to new NCTA data, communications providers reported 18,327 theft and vandalism incidents in 2025, a 59 percent increase from the previous year, affecting more than 11.8 million customers. Trusty said attacks are becoming more frequent, sophisticated, and coordinated, increasingly targeting fiber routes, cell towers, and backup power systems rather than just copper wiring.

Rural areas remain especially vulnerable due to aging copper infrastructure. West Virginia ranked among the ten hardest-hit states in 2025, with 539 reported incidents.

“When a network goes down in America,” Trusty said, “it is never just an inconvenience. It is a grandmother in rural Texas who cannot reach her doctor. It is a small business owner in Pennsylvania watching a day’s worth of transactions disappear into a dead screen. It is a dispatcher at a 911 center or public safety answering point staring at a console that is not responding. It is a child who cannot complete homework for days or perhaps weeks. And, it is millions of other Americans who have experienced power disruptions, delayed public transportation, first responders out of reach, and more. It is, in the fullest sense of the word, a disruption to American life.”