- Reuters, Friday, December 19, 2008 12 PM
Government and industry officials said the U.S. is unprepared for "cyberwar" after 230 representatives of government defense and security agencies, private companies and civil groups participated in a
two-day simulation. Reuters said the simulation revealed flaws in leadership, planning, communications and other issues.
"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 afterwards. U.S. Rep. James Langevin (D-R.I.), who
chairs the homeland security subcommittee on cybersecurity, said: "We're way behind where we need to be now."
The consequences of a successful attack could include the failure of banking or
national electrical systems, the report said. "This is equivalent in my mind to before Sept. 11," said Langevin. "We were awakened to the threat on the morning after Sept. 11." Rep. Dutch
Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said billions of dollars must be spent by both government and industry to improve security.
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