Washington in Cyber shock over simulated online terror attack

The US couldn't cope with a full scale cyber attack. That was the chilling conclusion from a simulated attack this week. 

The Cyber ShockWave simulation was developed by former CIA director general Michael Hayden and the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC)'s National Security Preparedness Group. “We were trying to tee up specific issues that would be digestible so they would become the building blocks of a broader, more comprehensive cyber strategy," said Hayden. 

A group of former senior administration and national security officials playing the roles of Cabinet members who had to advise the US President after being confronted with a crippled mobile phone network and electricity grid. 

"There is no question in my mind that this is a predictable surprise and we need to get our act together," said Stephen Friedman, former director of the National Economic Council, who played the role of secretary of treasury, while Michael Chertoff, former secretary of homeland security, who played the role of national security advisor, said: "Cyber-terrorism ought to be treated as a threat of sufficient seriousness that we give it the priority attention we have given weapons of mass destruction."

Lessons need to be learned, argued the BPC afterwards. “Cyber ShockWave demonstrated the tremendous challenges the government has in dealing with potential cyber attacks,” said Jason Grumet, founder and president of the BPC. “Our goal for Cyber Shockwave was to identify real policy and preparedness issues that need to be addressed in order to combat an attack of this magnitude that escalates rapidly and is of unknown origin.”