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Unknown hackers have taken out US cellphone networks in an ongoing cyber-attack that will soon knock out parts of the nation’s electricity grid – say the officials who helped plan today’s mock assault on the nation’s defences.

The 3-hour event began at 10 am EST (3 pm GMT) and will quickly escalate from cellphone networks to attack the US power supply by taking advantage of vulnerabilities in smart grid technologies, says Matthew Stern, head of cyber accounts for defence contractor .

“The attack will look like organised crime initially, but will get to the point where the Department of Defense will get involved and have to decide if and how to retaliate,” Stern, former head of the US army’s protected networks, told Â鶹´«Ã½ prior to the event.

Shock tactic

Today’s event, known as Cyber Shockwave and organised by the , a Washington DC-based think tank, aims to give the public an unprecedented and realistic look at how government officials might react to a cyber-attack on the nation.

The organisation has gathered former White House and national security officials with no prior knowledge of the nature of today’s attack in a mock “situation room” in a Washington hotel.

There, they are receiving fictitious intelligence briefings and watching fake news reports of the attack’s effects across the country. They are being asked to respond in real time with suggestions of what the government should do. Journalists are watching and recording the event, which will be televised by CNN on 20 and 21 February.

The simulation aims to highlight vulnerabilities in computer networks and raise questions about how and when the federal government should initiate countermeasures.

Realistic scenario

“Our goal wasn’t to make this into cyber-Armageddon where nothing works for anyone, but to highlight policy gaps with a realistic scenario,” Stern says.

As well as General Dynamics, a company with a vested interest in cyber security, the event’s sponsors include online payments firm and , the fourth largest electricity provider in the US. While Paypal’s online business makes it clearly vulnerable to cyber-attack, utilities increasingly rely on computer networking to manage power generation and are embracing smart meters that allow two way communication between power users and the power suppliers via a number of pathways that can include cellphone, radio, and internet-based networks. .

In recent , US director of national intelligence said the country faces “strong and rapidly expanding adversary capabilities and a lack of comprehensive threat awareness”.

The US government is ramping up its cyber war games efforts. On 8 January, the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to help develop a permanent National Cyber Range for ongoing cyber-attack simulations. In addition, later this month, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories will co-host a week-long training course and competition for cyber-security specialists.