It’s been said before: cyberattacks are not a matter of if but when. While it’s difficult for organizations to predict exactly when an attack might hit, they can prepare for one to help strengthen their cyber readiness and mitigate devastating impacts.

The global average cost of a data breach reached USD 4.45 million, with the U.S. facing the highest breach costs across all regions. For public organizations, the cost of a cyber crisis transcends monetary costs. Threat actors can disrupt critical infrastructure and steal confidential data that could be detrimental to national security.

IBM is proud to announce the official opening of the IBM X-Force Cyber Range in the heart of Washington DC to help federal agencies improve their resilience against these evolving threats. This new state-of-the-art center demonstrates IBM’s commitment to both the federal market and helping to secure the nation’s critical infrastructure, while concurrently serving their corporate clients.

Experience a tailored cyber crisis simulation

The X-Force Cyber Range aims to help clients strengthen their cross-organization response to these threats in a safe and fault-free environment. The range introduces new custom training exercises designed specifically to help US federal agencies, their suppliers, and critical infrastructure organizations more effectively respond to increasingly persistent and disruptive cyberattacks and future threats posed by AI.

Building on nearly a decade of experience conducting cyber response training globally, IBM facilitators guide participants through full-scale cyber crisis scenarios—ranging from AI code poisoning and destructive attacks to deepfakes and zero-day attacks.

The experience is immersive, helping participants work through challenges they would face in real time, such as cross-team communication breakdowns, false assumptions, resource constraints, disclosure timelines, and navigating new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) incident reporting requirements. In addition to government and critical infrastructure, businesses across all sectors can participate in cyber response training. Some of the simulations that will be delivered through the X-Force Cyber Range in DC include:

• Mission: Cyber Response: In this challenge, IBM facilitators test and guide teams through a series of cyberattack scenarios, exposing gaps in response plans within a safe environment, allowing stakeholders across federal agencies to learn best practices based on industry standards and real-world case studies. This federally focused scenario leverages the CISA Cybersecurity Incident & Vulnerability Response Playbook to guide decision-making in a realistic cyber crisis scenario.
• Business Response Challenge: Private organizations take part in a similar scenario designed to test their unique processes, threat landscapes, and industries, ultimately examining how well they have prepared, and how efficiently they can respond and recover from a business-disrupting cyber crisis event.
• Cyber Wargame: In this hands-on scenario, participants uncover and investigate a cyberattack led by a cybercriminal organization targeting a fictitious corporation. The Cyber Wargame positions two teams—a technical investigative team and cross-functional business team—in the middle of a realistic cybersecurity incident, concurrently exercising their existing plans, ability to communicate, and problem-solving skills to successfully respond to a cyberattack.
• Inside the Mind of a Hacker: This exercise is designed to help participants understand the viewpoint of an attacker by providing a demonstration of the types of tools adversaries are using today and a look into the scope of current attacks. The session includes relevant insights from X-Force threat intelligence to help participants stay informed and adaptive to the latest cyber threats.

Improve your cybersecurity readiness today

Since 2016, IBM’s Cyber Range facilities have hosted more than 17,000 visitors with locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bangalore, India, and Ottawa, Canada in partnership with the University of Ottawa. Virtual and customer on-site capabilities have allowed IBM’s Cyber Range experts to meet organizations where they are—remotely and in person—serving the likes of major banks, healthcare systems, and oil and gas producers across the globe. With the opening of the DC Cyber Range, IBM is excited to extend this essential security preparedness training to the federal market and beyond.

Learn more about the IBM X-Force Cyber Range in Washington DC here, or book an information meeting here.