The Cyber Storm exercise is a biennial
simulated
A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...
exercise overseen by the United States
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
that took place February 6 through February 10, 2006 with the purpose of testing the nation's defenses against
digital espionage.
[Fact Sheet: Cyber Storm Exercise](_blank)
(Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
). Accessed February 1, 2008. The simulation was targeted primarily at American security organizations but officials from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand participated as well.
Cyber Storm I
The first Cyber Storm exercise took place February 6 through February 10, 2006 with the purpose of testing the nation's defenses against
digital espionage.
Simulation
The exercise simulated a large scale attack on critical digital infrastructure such as
communications
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
,
transportation
Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...
, and
energy production
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include the production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and re ...
. The simulation took place a series of incidents which included:
*
Washington, D.C. Metro trains mysteriously shutting down.
*
Bloggers
A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
revealing locations of railcars containing hazardous materials.
*The
airport control towers of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and Chicago mysteriously shutting down.
*A mysterious liquid appearing on a London subway.
*Significant numbers of people on
"no fly" lists suddenly appearing at airports all over the nation.
*Planes flying too close to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
.
*Water utilities in Los Angeles getting compromised.
Internal difficulties
During the exercise the computers running the simulation came under attack by the players themselves. Heavily censored files released to the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
reveal that at some time during the exercise the organizers sent every one involved an
e-mail
Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
marked "IMPORTANT!" telling the participants in the simulation not to attack the game's control computers.
Performance of participants
The Cyber Storm exercise highlighted the gaps and shortcomings of the nation's cyber defenses. The cyber storm exercise report found that institutions under attack had a hard time getting the bigger picture and instead focused on single incidents treating them as "individual and discrete". In light of the test the Department of Homeland Security raised concern that the relatively modest resources assigned to cyber-defense would be "overwhelmed in a real attack".
Cyber Storm II
Cyber Storm II was an international cyber security exercise sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2008. The week-long exercise was centered in
Washington, DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
and concluded on March 15.
Cyber Storm III
Cyber Storm III was an international cyber security exercise sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2010. The week-long exercise was centered in Washington, DC and concluded on October 1.
[Ian Grant]
"Cyber Storm III"
/ref>
See also
* Cyber ShockWave
Cyber ShockWave, similar to the Cyber Storm Exercise, was a 4-hour Military simulation, wargame conducted in February 2010 by the Bipartisan Policy Center, an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Former high-ranking Cabinet and National S ...
References
{{Reflist
2006 in computing
Computer security
United States Department of Homeland Security