Internet Cyber Attack War Game to be Broadcast on CNN

Recently there have been various schemes proposed for more government control of the internet. At first they dangled a carrot offering considerably increased bandwidth and programming in the form of Internet 2 which also came with an increased price tag. The result would have been an internet more akin to television with users getting a free pass to large corporate sites but paying to access blogs such as this one which would have been the end for many sites.

When the public took a pass on Internet 2, the government tried the stick in the form of internet security—more “be afraid, be very afraid.” Last March Senator Jay Rockefeller stated that the internet is the “number one national hazard” to national security and he believes that the former Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Obama’s current director Admiral Dennis C. Blair agree.

According to a post by Barbara Kiviat to her blog at TIME.com:

I just went to a panel discussion about Internet security and let me tell you, it was scar-y. Between individual fraud, organized crime, corporate espionage and government spying, it's an incredibly dangerous world out there, which, according to one panelist, is growing exponentially worse.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month, Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, proposed a solution in the form of a ‘Driver’s License For The Internet.’ The implication was that internet users are driving without a license.

To convince us of the danger and the real threat of internet security, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) plans to simulate a cyber attack on America’s infrastructure on February 16, 2010 in a scenario reminiscent of the 9/11 war games and Northwestern University's International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR). According to a BPC press release issued today, the exercise, called Cyber ShockWave, “will provide an unprecedented look at how the government would develop a real-time response to a large-scale cyber crisis affecting much of the nation.”



It will be quite realistic, featuring senior officials, former officials and advisers. A production company has been hired to re-create a White House Sit Room in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, professional scriptwriters have been working with experts to create a real-life simulation and all of it will be aired on CNN.

Participants include:

• John Negroponte, the first DNI, will be the fictional Secretary of State
• Michael Chertoff, Ex-DHS Secretary, will be the National Security Adviser
• Fran Townsend, former White House Homeland Security Adviser, will be secretary of DHS
• John McLaughlin, former CIA deputy director, will be the Director of National Intelligence
• Jamie Gorelick, Deputy Attorney General, will be Attorney General