2010-02-17 Former top U.S. officials hold cyberattack exercise
Washington - An all-star team of former top U.S. officials held a cyberattack exercise on Tuesday, in an attempt to test the government's response to a large-scale cyber crisis.
The exercise, called "Cyber ShockWave," took place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C.. CNN filmed the exercise and will broadcast it next weekend.
The exercise "will highlight the immediate, real dangers of cyber-terrorism by bringing together a bipartisan group of former senior administration and national security officials playing the roles of cabinet members," the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), sponsor of the "Cyber ShockWave," said when announcing the initiative.
A number of former security agents and lawmakers participated in the exercise, among whom former president George W. Bush's Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff acted as National Security Advisor, former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte as Secretary of State, and former White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend as Secretary of Homeland Security.
"The participants, whose mission is to advise the president and mount a response to the attack, will not know the scenario in advance," said the BPC. "They will react to the threat in real time, as intelligence and news reports drive the simulation, shedding light on how the difficult split-second decisions must be made to respond an unfolding and often unseen threat."
The exercise, called "Cyber ShockWave," took place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C.. CNN filmed the exercise and will broadcast it next weekend.
The exercise "will highlight the immediate, real dangers of cyber-terrorism by bringing together a bipartisan group of former senior administration and national security officials playing the roles of cabinet members," the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), sponsor of the "Cyber ShockWave," said when announcing the initiative.
A number of former security agents and lawmakers participated in the exercise, among whom former president George W. Bush's Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff acted as National Security Advisor, former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte as Secretary of State, and former White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend as Secretary of Homeland Security.
"The participants, whose mission is to advise the president and mount a response to the attack, will not know the scenario in advance," said the BPC. "They will react to the threat in real time, as intelligence and news reports drive the simulation, shedding light on how the difficult split-second decisions must be made to respond an unfolding and often unseen threat."
