FEMA Sponsored Cyber Attack Simulation on Critical U.S. Infrastructure

Chris Dougherty
Virtual Threat Contributing Writer

President Barack Obama and several senior U.S. officials participated in a FEMA sponsored cyber attack simulation on Tuesday.   The simulation focused on how the U.S.  government would react to cyber warfare  targeting the country’s critical infrastructure.  The exercise was designed in part to help pinpoint weaknesses in official policies and procedures following such a massive event.

This type of simulation is nothing new to U.S. policy makers.  In recent months we have seen several such exercises, including a simulated attack on New York City’s power grid earlier this year.  In March the Obama administration simulated a cyber attack that would damage the New York City electric supply during a summer heat wave, all in the name of gaining support for new cyber security legislation.  The NSA, FBI and DOJ were all involved in the exercise according to a spokesman for Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat.

U.S. President Barack Obama is backing a Senate bill introduced in February, 2012 by Senator Joe Lieberman. The bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to set up rules for companies critical to U.S. national and economic security in order to improve their computer defenses.

U.S. officials are currently debating cyber security legislation following last year ‘s assaults on companies including Citigroup, Inc. and Lockhhed Martin Corp., the world’s largest defense company.  The attacks have spawned new national security concerns with regard to  critical networks including U.S. power grids, banks and communications systems.  The more researchers investigate, the more they are finding these systems to be vulnerable to hacking and viruses.