Cyber Security: NatGeo's American Blackout imagines 10 days of a nationwide power outage due to cyber attacks

What does it mean to be powerless? That question is at the center of American Blackout, a new found-footage style suspense/horror movie from National Geographic Channel that imagines 10 days of a nationwide power outage caused by a devastating cyber attack.

Though former deputy of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute called the movie "extreme," Michael Hayden, retired general and former director of the NSA and CIA, said we don't know how big of a risk a cyber attack is.

Robert Bristow, Medical Director of Emergency Management at New York Presbyterian Hospital, said most hospitals have a plan to sustain services for about 96 hours without needing external assistance. Lute added that there is an old saying among first responders that the "first 72 is on you," and that many people don't have the capability to withstand 72 hours in case emergency services cannot reach them.

American Blackout will air on November 13 at 9 p.m. ET.

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