In a bold military exploit on 3 January 2026, US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, employing sophisticated cyber tactics to disable key infrastructure and facilitate the raid. The operation, named Absolute Resolve, involved coordinated efforts across cyber, space, and conventional domains, resulting in Maduro's arrest on charges of drug-trafficking and terrorism. President Donald Trump confirmed the use of cyber capabilities to induce a blackout in the capital, allowing helicopters to land under cover of darkness. This event has drawn attention to the vulnerabilities of critical national infrastructure (CNI) worldwide.
The assault began with a power outage at 2:00 a.m., followed by U.S. helicopters arriving at 2:01 a.m., demonstrating precise timing. U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and Space Command (SPACECOM) collaborated with other agencies to disrupt the electrical grid, communications, and air defenses. Over 150 aircraft, including fighters and drones, navigated using space-based assets for surveillance and precision strikes. Tomahawk missiles targeted radars, while cyber-induced blackouts neutralized fixed surface-to-air missile batteries and caused confusion among Venezuelan forces. A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack overwhelmed servers, further hampering digital communications. The operation's success stemmed from months of planning, including intelligence on Maduro's routines gathered by the National Security Agency.
Venezuelan defenses offered minimal resistance, partly due to low morale and poor conditions within the military, leading to stand-downs or surrenders. One U.S. helicopter sustained small arms fire but remained operational. The raid marked a significant display of U.S. capabilities, contrasting with Venezuela's reliance on disinformation rather than advanced hacking.
Cyber elements were central, representing the culmination of a prolonged campaign. Agencies layered effects to create pathways for forces, including pre-positioned malware in critical systems. This included disrupting the power grid to enable the assault, a tactic Trump described as leveraging U.S. expertise for "total darkness." Space assets provided reconnaissance, while cyber disruptions targeted operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) convergence. Such methods echo prior incidents, like Russia's 2015 attack on Ukraine's grid, but executed with greater speed and precision.
The operation followed a recent cyber hit on Venezuela's oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, causing delays. Critics argue it breached international norms on sovereignty, affecting civilians in a nation already in crisis. According to CEO of e-2-assure, Rob Demain, the attack unfolded in three phases.
- Phase one involved infiltration via supply chains and human access, harvesting credentials and establishing persistence. This allowed reconnaissance of OT/IT systems and control dependencies to plan cascading failures like regional blackouts.
- Phase two reshaped the environment with new firewall rules, shadow administrators, and weakened detections. Externally, it included BGP/DNS surveillance and traffic redirection tests, monitoring response times - activities visible in public data but often ignored. Suspicious internet routing occurred 14 hours before the raid, signaling intelligence gathering.
- The final execution phase triggered multi-domain disruptions in minutes, disabling accounts, tripping OT systems, and causing routing instability. This quiet, configuration-focused approach differs from traditional hacks.
Demain stresses monitoring preparatory steps weeks or months ahead, rather than just execution. CNI must account for geopolitical threats beyond financial motives, recognizing air-gapped systems' limited isolation. Defenses should prioritize threat hunting for dormant access, privilege drift, OT inconsistencies, routing anomalies, and configuration changes. The event exposes global CNI risks, with nation-states like China and Russia compromising systems for sabotage. U.S. infrastructure faces similar threats, urging regulatory reforms to focus on effectiveness over compliance.
Maduro's capture could reshape Venezuela's oil economy, potentially surging production and affecting global markets. It risks escalation, with Russia, China, and Iran condemning the action and possibly retaliating via cyber means. However, such responses might be restrained to avoid war. The operation illustrates integrated warfare, blending cyber and kinetic elements, prompting reassessments in sectors like energy and transport and highlight evolving cybers threats, where state actors exploit vulnerabilities for strategic gains.
Red Sky Alliance is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the office directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@redskyalliance.com
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