The Federal Bureau of Investigation is revealing a 22,000-square-foot replica town on its campus in Huntsville, Alabama. This FBI replica town teaches law enforcement how to simulate and investigate real-world cyberattacks.
The goal is to give investigators hands-on experience in a safe setting outside the classroom. They work with some of the newest consumer and enterprise technologies. Malicious hackers regularly target many of these technologies.
Why Cyber Training Matters
The numbers give the training context. The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report draws on more than one million complaints. It reported a record $20.9 billion in cybercrime losses in the United States, a 26% increase over the previous year. The report also identified ransomware as the most persistent danger to vital infrastructure.
Inside The FBI Replica Town
The FBI calls its small, purpose-built town the Kinetic Cyber Range. It opened in February 2025. The town includes fully furnished homes, a hotel, a grocery store, a gas station, a courtroom, a hospital, and a power company. It is meant to resemble a real American hamlet, with roads and traffic lights.
More than 1,400 students have trained at the facility since it opened, according to the agency. They include FBI employees and partners from other federal and local organizations.
Every area of the town has working systems and gadgets. They act as they would in an actual business or community. The setup keeps any simulated attacks from escaping the premises.
What Is Inside The Data Center?
The range also includes a data center with more than 200 physical servers. Some run Linux and others run Windows. These servers represent the corporate settings that investigators are likely to meet when they respond to a breach or carry out a search warrant.
According to Dave Beachboard, the program manager at the range, the training atmosphere is “cold, cramped, loud, dark, and uncomfortable.”
Ransomware And Digital Forensics Training
The FBI can also use the replica town to model ransomware attacks and their real-world effects. Investigators must make difficult choices when they respond to situations that could endanger people. One example is a hospital system going down.
The Kinetic Cyber Range also trains American investigators in digital forensics. Law enforcement uses this technique to breach the security defenses of modern encrypted devices and retrieve data from them. Often, the goal is to build a criminal investigation.
The tools involved are controversial. They work by exploiting flaws that device makers, like Apple or Google, do not know about. That lets investigators bypass the safeguards these companies build in for their customers.
