Simulation shows government lacks policies needed to respond to cyberattack

A simulation of a widespread cyberattack against the nation's critical infrastructure on Tuesday demonstrated the cascading effects an attack can have on networks and the difficulty the government would have in quickly responding, including dealing with civil liberties and how to work with corporations. The Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit group founded in 2007 by former senate majority leaders, staged Cyber Shockwave, a fictional cyberattack that first targeted wireless telecommunications networks. According to the scenario, an unknown individual or group sent a virus embedded in an NCAA March Madness Basketball bracket application to smart phones. When downloaded, the application installed spyware on the device, which logged the users' typed keystrokes, and intercepted e-mail and text messages.