Security News > 2010 > February > In a doomsday cyber attack scenario, answers are unsettling

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/17/nation/la-na-cyber-attack17-2010feb17 By Bob Drogin The Los Angeles Times February 17, 2010 Reporting from Washington -- The crisis began when college basketball fans downloaded a free March Madness application to their smart phones. The app hid spyware that stole passwords, intercepted e-mails and created havoc. Soon 60 million cellphones were dead. The Internet crashed, finance and commerce collapsed, and most of the nation's electric grid went dark. White House aides discussed putting the Army in American cities. That, spiced up with bombs and hurricanes, formed the doomsday scenario when 10 former White House advisors and other top officials joined forces Tuesday in a rare public cyber war game designed to highlight the potential vulnerability of the nation's digital infrastructure to crippling attack. The results were hardly reassuring. "We're in uncharted territory here," was the most common refrain during a three-hour simulated crisis meeting of the National Security Council, the crux of the Cyber Shockwave exercise. Joe Lockhart, former press secretary to President Clinton, urged his fellow panelists to be bold. "Trust me," he said, "you will be judged on this when this is over, and for years to come." The panelists apparently took him to heart and, as the scenario unfolded, tossed out ways to maintain order -- including nationalizing industries, rationing fuel and snatching suspects overseas. [...] ________________________________________ Did a friend send you this? From now on, be the first to find out! Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org

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http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/17/nation/la-na-cyber-attack17-2010feb17