Data Centers Targeted Amid Rising Cybersecurity Threats

• •Data centers are increasingly targeted by cyber and physical attacks, including drone strikes.
• •Congress is considering a standalone critical infrastructure designation for data centers.
• •Experts warn that attacks on data centers could have widespread consequences for the economy.

Data centers have become high-value targets for cyber and physical attacks, highlighted by drone strikes on Amazon Web Services facilities in March 2026. These incidents, attributed to Iranian forces, resulted in temporary outages and raised alarms about the security of critical infrastructure. The U.S. Congress is considering designating data centers as a standalone critical infrastructure sector due to their importance in the AI-driven economy. Experts warn that attacks on these facilities could have catastrophic consequences, affecting millions of users and vast amounts of data. The FBI is increasing its outreach to data center operators to address these threats, and there is a push for enhanced security measures, including the potential use of robotic security. The current lack of a unified federal approach to data center security is a significant concern among lawmakers and industry professionals.