The FBI has built a full-scale mock American town inside a secure facility in Alabama, giving agents a realistic environment to train for damaging cyberattacks.

The project reflects growing concern over cyberattacks that increasingly have real-world consequences. Ransomware incidents can shut down hospitals, disrupt fuel supplies and affect public services, forcing investigators to navigate both digital systems and physical environments during an emergency.

To prepare agents for those scenarios, the FBI has recreated many of the places that could become targets—from homes and businesses to healthcare facilities and energy infrastructure.

Why the FBI Built an Entire Fake Town

Known as the Kinetic Cyber Range, the 22,000-square-foot facility sits on the FBI's campus in Huntsville, Alabama, and is designed to resemble a small American community.

Inside are fully furnished homes, a hotel, gas station, grocery store, courthouse, hospital and power company.

Unlike a traditional training set, every building is connected to functioning networks, devices and operational technology designed to behave like real-world systems.

The town also has a data center containing more than 200 physical servers running both Windows and Linux systems to mirror corporate IT environments.

Training for Cyberattacks With Real-World Consequences

The FBI says the goal is to move cyber training beyond classroom exercises and into realistic, high-pressure situations.

Historically, cyber investigators often trained using simulated data at computer workstations. But as cyberattacks have become more disruptive, agencies have increasingly emphasized practical training that mirrors real incidents.

The Kinetic Cyber Range allows trainees to experience those conditions firsthand. Exercises include:

• Responding to ransomware attacks
• Handling breaches in corporate networks, including gaining access to systems
• Gathering and analyzing digital evidence in real-world environments
• Making rapid decisions during investigations, such as what to seize and how to proceed

One scenario the FBI gave involves a ransomware attack that disables hospital systems, forcing investigators to weigh technical responses against potential impacts on patient care.

"This is about as real as it's going to get before people go out in the field," said Dave Beachboard, the programme manager for the cyber range.

Why Cybercrime Is Driving the Shift

The creation of a facility this complex reflects a sharp rise in cyber threats.

According to the FBI’s own data:

• U.S. cybercrime losses reached over $20 billion in 2025, a record high
• That figure represents a 26 percent increase from the previous year
• Ransomware remains "the highest reported cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure organizations."

The rising frequency and severity of attacks have prompted law enforcement agencies to place greater emphasis on immersive training environments.

What Training Looks Like Inside the Range

The training is designed to replicate real investigations as closely as possible.

Agents might:

• Enter a mock home and decide which connected devices to seize
• Serve a search warrant at a business and analyze live networks
• Extract data from vehicles or servers
• Work inside cramped, noisy data centers similar to real corporate environments

Beachboard said some environments were intentionally designed to be uncomfortable, describing the data center as "cold…cramped…noisy…dark…miserable" to better replicate real working conditions.

Support—and Privacy Concerns

Since opening in February 2025, the range has trained more than 1,400 students, including FBI personnel and law-enforcement partners.

The FBI is presenting the town as a necessary evolution in cyber training, saying that digital threats now have real-world impacts that require physical, scenario-based preparation.

However, according to TechCrunch, critics are arguing that some aspects of the training—particularly the use of tools to extract data from locked or encrypted devices (such as smartphones and laptops)—remain controversial in the wider cybersecurity community.

These tools rely on hidden vulnerabilities that are kept secret rather than disclosed to device makers.

As a result, the same flaws could potentially be used not only by law enforcement for investigations, but also by hackers or other malicious actors if they are discovered.

The Bigger Picture

The FBI's replica town reflects a broader shift in how governments prepare for cyber threats—not simply as digital incidents, but as events capable of disrupting essential services and daily life.

By creating a fully working community inside a controlled environment, the FBI hopes to better prepare investigators for attacks that extend far beyond stolen data and into the physical world.