Cyber Security Simulation (Inspired Post 6)

After listening to Jim Lewis speak about Cyber Security on the first day of our trip to CSIS, I felt as if I had learned a lot about the topic, but still felt overwhelmed by the idea of doing a Cyber Security Simulation the following day. During lunch on Thursday, I reviewed the notes that I had taken during his presentation in preparation for the simulation. When the simulation finally began, it was awkward because we sat there and attempted to come up with three pillars for cyber security but didn't want to go too in depth knowing that any minute something new would be thrown our way.

When we initially found out the Chicago's power had gone down and it was an expected cyber attack, the first thing our group did was rule out pointing fingers.

We didn't want to blame anyone for this attack until we had hard, legitimate evidence to support such an accusation. This was a very interesting situation to be put in. We needed to find out who did it (Madame President was waiting) but we had no real evidence, let alone any real leads. We didn't know who we could trust so collaborating with other allies seemed like a poor choice. We also didn't even know if the attack had come internally, so we didn't even know if we could trust our own people.



Once China was thrown into the mix, the situation became much more complicated. We had to watch our every move to make sure we didn't piss of China, but we also had to look over our shoulder to make sure China wasn't planning another attack.

For me, this simulation was an extremely good look at the problems that government officials face. Although these may not be entirely indicative of every day problems, it must be true that they are often expected to find solutions when they don't really know where to look. It is also true that we never know who are our allies and who is working against us (be it a whole country or simply an individual within that country) so it is quite a difficult predicament. I think the intensity of this simulation, combined with the effort that the students put in to come up with well thought out plans, made for a really successful and meaningful experience. I think that this a course that all students who aim to be policymakers ought to take. Because of the Honors College, I have been afforded the opportunity to take classes that were so unique and such incredible experiences. I am extremely grateful to have had the chance to go to CSIS and I plan to find as many other Honors courses like this one to take before I graduate. And of course, getting a $15 Starbucks gift card for winning the simulation was a pretty big perk, too! :)