THE US is unprepared for a major hostile attack against vital computer networks, government and industry officials said after a two-day "cyberwar" simulation.
The game involved 230 representatives of government defense and security agencies, private companies and civil groups. It revealed flaws in leadership, planning, communications and other issues, participants said.
The exercise comes almost a year after President George W. Bush launched a cybersecurity initiative which officials said has helped shore up U.S. computer defenses but still falls short.
"There isn't a response or a game plan," said senior vice president Mark Gerencser of the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting service, which ran the simulation.
"There isn't really anybody in charge," he told reporters afterward.
Democratic U.S. Rep. James Langevin of Rhode Island, who chairs the homeland security subcommittee on cybersecurity, said: "We're way behind where we need to be now."
Dire consequences of a successful attack could include failure of banking or national electrical systems, he said.
"This is equivalent in my mind to before September 11 ... we were awakened to the threat on the morning after September 11."
Officials cited attacks by Russian sympathisers on Estonia and Georgia as examples of modern cyberwarfare, and said US businesses and government offices have faced intrusions and attacks.
Billions of dollars must be spent by both government and industry to improve security, said Dutch Ruppersberger, the Democratic chairman of the intelligence subcommittee on technical intelligence.
The war game simulated a dramatic surge in computer attacks at a time of economic vulnerability, and required participants to find ways to mitigate the attacks - using real-life knowledge of tactics and procedures where they work.
It was the broadest such exercise in terms of representation across government agencies and industrial sectors, officials said.
The exercise comes almost a year after President George W. Bush launched a cybersecurity initiative which officials said has helped shore up U.S. computer defenses but still falls short.
"There isn't a response or a game plan," said senior vice president Mark Gerencser of the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting service, which ran the simulation.
"There isn't really anybody in charge," he told reporters afterward.
Democratic U.S. Rep. James Langevin of Rhode Island, who chairs the homeland security subcommittee on cybersecurity, said: "We're way behind where we need to be now."
Dire consequences of a successful attack could include failure of banking or national electrical systems, he said.
"This is equivalent in my mind to before September 11 ... we were awakened to the threat on the morning after September 11."
Officials cited attacks by Russian sympathisers on Estonia and Georgia as examples of modern cyberwarfare, and said US businesses and government offices have faced intrusions and attacks.
Billions of dollars must be spent by both government and industry to improve security, said Dutch Ruppersberger, the Democratic chairman of the intelligence subcommittee on technical intelligence.
The war game simulated a dramatic surge in computer attacks at a time of economic vulnerability, and required participants to find ways to mitigate the attacks - using real-life knowledge of tactics and procedures where they work.
It was the broadest such exercise in terms of representation across government agencies and industrial sectors, officials said.
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