The FBI built a small town to practice cyberattacks

Last year, the FBI opened a Cyber ​​Range in Huntsville, Alabama, in reference to a cyber attack. Think of it as popular Hogan’s Alleybut in teaching modern digital criminology. It’s a 22,000 square-foot replica of the entire town, complete with a shopping mall, gas station, hospital, and even apartment buildings.

It is a training center where offices can recreate real world events for teaching and research. All the different buildings and equipment are connected as they would be in a real town. There is also a small data center with over 200 servers that can be hacked, infected with malware, and studied. But, most importantly, all the functions of the fake city have been removed from the outside, which means that there is no risk of malicious code or anything escaping the storage.

Students pursue forensic research in automotive entertainment systems, medical computer networks, and corporate security. They can see how different cyberattacks can affect power grids or spread through home networks.

When the facility opened last year, the FBI shared a movie this week, giving people a first look inside.