"Fire Sale": A crippling cyber-warfare attack on the infrastructure of the United States that would disrupt all power, public utilities, water, traffic, and other computer-controlled systems. The term is used because "everything must go." It is based on three steps. In the first step, all of the transport network is taken down; in the second step, banks, and the stock exchange are hacked, crashed and then all the information is washed; and in the third step, nuclear facilities, military defense systems and all the utilities are manipulated and disconnected. The theory is that if major infrastructure is disabled one system at a time, it will eventually be able to recover, but if all systems are destroyed simultaneously, the entire system will be destroyed without chance of recovery.