The FBI built a fake town in Alabama to study and simulate real-world cyberattacks

The FBI has constructed a simulated town in Huntsville, Alabama, called the Cyber Range, to analyze how cyberattacks propagate through connected systems. Spanning 22,000 square feet, the facility replicates a small community with homes, a gas station, hospital, convenience store, and vehicle networks, all wired to mimic real-world infrastructure. The Cyber Range opened last year but was recently highlighted in a video detailing its operations. Unlike isolated test environments, the facility functions as an integrated ecosystem where attacks can spread across networks, such as from a compromised home device to broader infrastructure like power grids. This design reflects real-world attack patterns, where breaches rarely stay confined to a single system. Trainees and investigators test scenarios targeting home networks, hospital IT systems, and corporate security environments to observe attack progression. The facility includes over 200 servers in a compact data center, used to simulate malware, track threat evolution, and study vulnerabilities. Researchers can safely observe how quickly threats move and which weaknesses they exploit. Isolation is critical—the Cyber Range operates entirely offline, preventing experimental attacks or malware from escaping into the real world. This containment allows aggressive testing, such as simulating hospital network disruptions or power grid compromises, without real-world consequences. Forensic analysis is also a focus, helping investigators trace attacks back to their origins. The setup draws parallels to the FBI’s Hogan’s Alley, a mock town for physical training, but adapts to modern digital threats. By recreating interconnected systems, the Cyber Range provides a safe space to test defenses, stress vulnerabilities, and study fallout without risking actual damage. As more devices connect online, understanding these attack surfaces becomes essential for cybersecurity preparedness.