Get Ready for Cyber ShockWave

A Washington think tank will host a simulated cyberattack on the United States on Tuesday to demonstrate how the government would respond to a large-scale attack on the nation's computer systems and networks.

The Bipartisan Policy Center announced on Wednesday its Cyber ShockWave, which will bring together a bipartisan group of former senior administration and national security officials to play Cabinet members whose mission is to advise the president and react in real time to intelligence and news reports on the cyberattack. None of the participants will know the scenario in advance.

A post-event discussion with the participants and partners will analyze ways that the U.S. government can avoid a real world cyberattack and lessons learned.

Cyber ShockWave was created by former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden and the BPC's National Security Preparedness Group, which is led by co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission, Governor Thomas Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton.

Former senior administration officials and national security experts that will participate include:

* Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff as National Security Advisor

* Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte as Secretary of State

* White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend as Secretary of Homeland Security

* Director of Central Intelligence John McLaughlin as Director of National Intelligence

* Senator Bennett Johnston as Secretary of Energy

* Director of the National Economic Council Stephen Friedman as Secretary of Treasury

* Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick as Attorney General

* White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart as Counselor to the President

* General Counsel of the National Security Agency Stewart Baker as Cyber Coordinator

* Deputy Commander U.S. European Command Charles F. Wald as Secretary of Defense