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Cyber ShockWave training exercise tests US readiness for cyber-attacks

If we've learned anything from Hollywood it's that cybersecurity is a growing national concern. And there are a couple approaches the country could take to tackle the problem. The first, which we wholeheartedly endorse, involves relying on tough guys with bad attitudes, short fuses, and a propensity for tattered clothing (at least once the bombs start dropping). The other -- endorsed by Washington think tanks with names like the Bipartisan Policy Center -- would be actual preparation and policy-making. To this end, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in DC hosted Cyber ShockWave, which only sounds like an awesome energy drink -- in fact, it was a simulated, 12-hour cyber attack held yesterday. In the words of the Wall Street Journal, organizers intended "to show how the U.S. government would respond to [attacks] against its networks and infrastructure." According to a 367-page November report by the US-China Economic Security Review Commission, the DoD has had to deal with some 54,640 total cyber attacks in 2008 -- with the number of attacks increasing to 43,785 in the first half of 2009 alone. That's a lot of attacks! On second thought, maybe the whole "preparation" and "training" thing does sound like a good idea. So long as we keep John McClane around -- just in case.