Questions for you guys that are all knowed up on this stuff:

In an EMP attack: What kind of stuff will it ruin, what stuff is immune from an EMP attack, and what can we personally do to "harden" our own stuff from an attack?

Thanks for any insights.

http://www.empcommission.org/docs/empc_exec_rpt.pdf

I'm no expert, but as far as I know there's no such thing as a portable EMP "gun" that can directionally project an EMP. I think you could probably make one, but the power supply needed and the equipment would make it not very portable. And even then, it would function more like a flashlight than a laser in its ability to target. Any sort of EMP would have a Gaussian distribution, which is where the intensity drops of dramatically as you move out radially from the source. You'd need a rapid power discharge and a way to convert it into a magnetic field. So you'd need lots of capacitors and a large electromagnet.

The only way that I'm aware of shielding would be some sort of setup like a coaxial cable. You shield wiring with an outer wire, basically. You also shield other things with more conductive metal.

But again, I'm no electrical engineer, just took a few electrical engineering courses back when I was in school. And I'm a bit of a nerd.

The military has been shielding their electronics for years against the dangers of the EMP!

What makes for an effective shield?

If it shields a radio signal it'll work for an EMP. Of course the strength of the EMP and spectrum would dictate how much shielding is required and how to construct it.