Simulated cyber-attack to test government response

Cyber ShockWave test involves former administration staff, national security officials

Computerworld - Security industry analysts and lawmakers will get an unprecedented chance next week to evaluate how the government might respond to a cyber-attack on critical infrastructure targets.

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a Washington-based non-profit established in 2007 by several lawmakers, will host a simulated nation-wide cyber-attack next Tuesday for a group of former administration and national security officials, who will be playing the roles of Cabinet members.

The goal of the simulation, called Cyber ShockWave, is to see how officials in key government positions would react to a real-time cyber- attack, and to evaluate the split-second decisions they may be required to take to deal with it, a BPC alert noted.

Those playing the roles of various cabinet members include former DHS secretary Michael Chertoff, the former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, former White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend and former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart.

The participants, none of whom will have any advance information on the simulated attacks, will be expected to advise the President on the unfolding attacks and craft a response to them. The event is scheduled to take place at Washington's Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

A report in The Atlantic said that a considerable effort is being put into making the exercise as realistic as possible.

A production company has been hired to recreate a White House situation room in the Mandarin hotel, and professional scriptwriters will aid security experts in creating the simulated attack.

The whole exercise itself was developed by former CIA director general Michael Hayden and several others, including former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton, both of whom were co-chairs of the 9/11 commission. Companies and organizations that are participating in the effort include General Dynamics, Georgetown University and PayPal.

This is not the first time that BPC has organized a similar exercise. In 2007, it hosted Oil Shockwave, an oil crisis simulation, in which nine former cabinet and national security advisors participated. The purpose of that exercise was to explore the economic and national security implications of a prolonged crisis in the oil industry.

This month's planned cyber-security simulation comes amid growing concerns over state-sponsored attacks against critical IT assets. The recent cyber-attacks against Google and more than 30 technology companies allegedly by operatives based out of China have highlighted what many say is the need for a formal U.S. policy for deterring and responding to such attacks.

Jaikumar Vijayan covers data security and privacy issues, financial services security and e-voting for Computerworld. Follow Jaikumar on Twitter at Twitter @jaivijayan or subscribe to Jaikumar's RSS feed Vijayan RSS. His e-mail address is jvijayan@computerworld.com.

Read more about cybercrime and hacking in Computerworld's Cybercrime and Hacking Knowledge Center.

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Comment by ujkilla on February 18, 2010 at 9:06pm: woww day flag false oter more ???? time exactly for sohtdown my computer

Comment by Corey on February 16, 2010 at 8:40am: Like on 9-11 there was some sort of "excercise" being done, should we expect the same with this "excercise"?

One can only wonder.

Comment by Randall on February 16, 2010 at 8:35am: Michael Chertoff... is it merely my imagination, or does that guy look like Death?

Comment by elaurenzo on February 16, 2010 at 6:32am: So the flow is changing again, that's the nature of water, toxic or not, but we'll keep our eyes on it.

Comment by truth on February 16, 2010 at 3:17am: Familiar faces from the federal government will be tested Tuesday, Feb. 16, to see how well Washington, D.C., would handle a cyber-crisis. Pass or fail, their performance will be seen by spectators -- and then broadcast on CNN for the world to see.

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a nonprofit that develops multiparty solutions in public policy, will host Cyber Shockwave, a simulated cyber-attack on the United States, during an exercise at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The participants will be former senior administration officials who will be put through their paces, but they won't know exactly how until it actually happens.

"We've basically gathered a great group of former national security officials and administration officials, and we've actually switched up their roles, so I think it's going to be pretty interesting," said Eileen McMenamin, the BPC's vice president of communications.

At least 10 people will perform the test. They include Michael Chertoff, former secretary of U.S. Homeland Security; John Negroponte, former director of national intelligence; and Fran Townsend, former White House homeland security adviser.

"The jobs that they had held are not necessarily going to be the positions that they're holding in this exercise," McMenamin said.

Chertoff will operate as national security adviser for the simulation, and Negroponte and Townsend will play the roles of secretary of state and secretary of homeland security, respectively. They will be performing on a stage set up as a White House situation room, and they'll be watched by the press and other invited guests. CNN will record the happenings and air it as a special the weekend of Feb. 20.

"We have gone to great lengths to work with our sponsors, General Dynamics in particular, to work with experts who have written the scenario to ensure that it is actually realistic and could happen in real life, so they will be reacting in real time," McMenamin said. "We'll have different information coming in on the screens. We'll have runners run up with cards and inject new information into the scenario, and they'll have to react."

After the exercise is completed, the BPC will issue another press release about the results.

The public doesn't get to see what happens in the Pentagon or the White House situation, but the BPC will allow people the rare chance to see how something like this actually unfolds, according to McMenamin. The BPC hosted a similar series of simulations in 2007, Oil ShockWave, which addressed the country's dependence on foreign oil as a major threat.

"I think a large reason that we did this is to educate the public that these threats to exist and that government needs to know how to react in real-time, and hoping to draw a larger awareness to this," McMenamin said. "I think it will also be a good tool for not only government officials, but private-sector companies as well to see what possible threats are out there, and that we really need to be ready in case an attack of this sort occurs."