The Department of Homeland Security has released a report showing that 23 gas pipeline companies were hit by cyberterrorists in the first six months of 2012.

The attacks were launched by sending emails designed to trick high level managers into opening attachments to emails that would infect the company systems with a virus. It allowed the hackers to get into sensitive parts of the company’s network including systems that control the flow of gas.

While the report does not specifically mention China, there are indications in the report Chinese hackers were the main terrorists attacking the companies.

The DHS report states that the terrorists could have the ability to destroy compressor stations across the country simultaneously thus crippling the nation’s power grid. Almost 30 percent of the U.S. power grid is powered by natural gas.

“Anyone can blow up a gas pipeline with dynamite. But with this stolen information, if I wanted to blow up not one, but 1,000 compressor stations, I could,” former Gas Technology Institute scientist William Rush said. “I could put the attack vectors in place, let them sit there for years, and set them all off at the same time. I don’t have to worry about getting people physically in place to do the job, I just pull the trigger with one mouse click.”

“The natural gas pipeline industry is near the top of the US critical infrastructure list, so of course they would be a military target,” John Bumgarner, research director for the US Cyber Consequences Unit, told the Christian Science Monitor. “The Chinese would want to get in and understand how the system communicates, how it works, and everything else. Yes, it’s also about gathering business intelligence to improve processes in a foreign country. But those same digital pathways could also be used as a jumping off point for an attack.”