FBI's Replica Town Aims to Combat Rising Cybercrime Rates

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has unveiled a unique training facility designed to combat the increasing threat of cyberattacks. The 22,000-square-foot replica town, known as the Kinetic Cyber Range, is located on the FBI's Huntsville, Alabama, campus and aims to provide law enforcement with hands-on training in simulating and investigating real-world cyberattacks.

The facility features a fully functional town with houses, a hotel, a gas station, a courthouse, a hospital, and a power company, complete with roads and traffic lights.

The Kinetic Cyber Range is designed to mimic a real U.S. community, allowing investigators to practice responding to various scenarios, including ransomware attacks and digital forensics. The facility is equipped with more than 200 physical servers, some running Windows and others Linux, reflecting the corporate environments investigators are likely to encounter when responding to a breach or executing a search warrant.

"They're cold, they're cramped, they're noisy, they're dark, they're miserable," Dave Beachboard, the range's program manager, explains. "This is what our agents are going to face when they're responding to a cyberattack.".

The replica town also allows the FBI to simulate the high-pressure decisions that investigators must make when responding to incidents that could cause harm to people, such as hospital systems going dark.

"The Kinetic Cyber Range is a game-changer for our law enforcement partners," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. "It provides them with the opportunity to practice and hone their skills in a secure and controlled environment, which is essential in the fight against cybercrime.".

-The Kinetic Cyber Range has already trained over 1,400 students, including FBI personnel and partners from other federal and local agencies, since its opening in February 2025.

-The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report logged a record $20.9 billion in U.S. cybercrime losses, a 26% jump over the prior year, with ransomware ranked the top ongoing threat to critical infrastructure.

-FBI's replica town aims to address the increasing threat of cyberattacks by providing law enforcement with hands-on training in simulating and investigating real-world cyberattacks.