2010-09-28 11:33

WASHINGTON - The United States and a dozen other countries on Monday began a three-day exercise to assess US cyber response capabilities.

The exercise, named Cyber Storm III, is an exercise scenario that simulates a large-scale cyber attack on critical infrastructure across the nation. The goal of the exercise is to examine and strengthen collective cyber preparedness and response capabilities, involving thousands of participants from seven US government departments, 11 US states, 60 private sector companies and 12 international partners - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

"Securing America's cyber infrastructure requires close coordination with our federal, state, international and private sector partners," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in a statement. "Exercises like Cyber Storm III allow us build upon the significant progress we've made in responding to evolving cyber threats."

Cyber Storm III will be the first major exercise program that will test the new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, which will serve as the center of national cybersecurity coordination.