SILENT HORIZON

"É assim: o xadrez é uma arte. Quem pratica uma arte pode praticar qualquer outra."
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"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The CIA is conducting a secretive war game, dubbed "Silent Horizon," this week to practice defending against an electronic assault on the same scale as the September 11 terrorism attacks.

The three-day exercise, ending Thursday, was meant to test the ability of government and industry to respond to escalating Internet disruptions over many months, according to participants. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the CIA asked them not to disclose details of the sensitive exercise taking place in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The simulated attacks were carried out five years in the future by a fictional alliance of anti-American organizations, including anti-globalization hackers. The most serious damage was expected to be inflicted in the war game's closing hours.

The national security simulation was significant because its premise -- a devastating cyber-attack that affects government and parts of the economy with the same magnitude as the September 11, 2001, suicide hijackings -- contravenes assurances by U.S. counterterrorism experts that such far-reaching effects from a cyber-attack are highly unlikely. Previous government simulations have modeled damage from cyber-attacks more narrowly."
(CNN)


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