Medin allows the students to play the role of both hacker and protector, the latter being the more difficult, he says. Similarly, w hen the student hacker breaks into CyberCity's power grid and shuts it down, the lights go off. This is what Skoudis calls a kinetic impact. Watching via a remote camera, they see the electronic billboard change from "Welcome to CyberCity" to "Zombies Ahead!"
Using the publicly available information, they are able to hack into the system in less than an hour.
CYBERTOWN REDDIT SOFTWARE
There, as in the real world, they find the daily musings of CyberCity's virtual employees, who reveal everything from the types of software the department uses to the format of log-ins and passwords. To do it, the students search CyberCity's mock social network, FaceSpace. Their first mission was a simple one: Break into CyberCity's transportation system and change the message on an electronic billboard. In late February, CounterHack's Tim Medin led a class of 13 students during a conference held by the SANS Institute, an information security research and training organization based in Bethesda, Md. The students conduct missions exposing the weaknesses of CyberCity’s computer systems – and by extension, show them real-world vulnerabilities. “Stuff moves, stuff could break, people could get injured, people could get hurt, and the military indicated to us 'we need the ability to train our people to prevent that kind of stuff from happening.'"ĬounterHack, which designs, builds and operates information security training programs, holds sessions across the country, where a mix of computer consultants, public works employees and military contractors spend hours attacking and defending CyberCity. "We need to demonstrate kinetic impact – that’s the word the military folks use for physical things," Skoudis said. Tucked away in a secret location in New Jersey, the model town of 15,000 employs the same software and control systems used by power and water utilities in major cities.ĬyberCity has its own internet service provider (ISP), bank, media outlets, military base, hospital and school, all to provide a mock staging ground for the kinds of computer security threats faced by city officials all over the world.Įd Skoudis designed CyberCity four years ago when military clients of his company, CounterHack, complained that most information security training felt too much like video games.
Hacker ring stole $1B from banks in 30 countries, says report.
Home Depot braces for fallout from security breach.Sony Pictures computer system down after reported hack.It may sound like a scene out of a Hollywood plot, but it's just another day in the life of CyberCity, a two-square-metre model town that serves as a training ground for computer security experts in their continuing battle against hackers.
CYBERTOWN REDDIT CODE
More than 1,500 kilometres away, a team of computer experts is trying to find the malicious code and shut it down before the lights go out. A small town is facing a blackout as hackers try to break into the computers controlling its power grid.
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