The Federal Bureau of Investigation has revealed details of a purpose-built replica town in Huntsville, Alabama, created to help law enforcement agencies train for cyberattacks and digital investigations.
Known as the Kinetic Cyber Range, the 22,000-square-foot facility opened in February 2025 and has already trained more than 1,400 students, including FBI personnel and officers from federal and local agencies.
Built to resemble a real community
The mock town includes:
- Fully furnished houses.
- A hotel.
- A gas station and grocery store.
- A courthouse.
- A hospital.
- A power company.
- Roads and traffic lights.
The FBI said the environment is designed to resemble a typical American community while ensuring that simulated attacks remain contained within the facility.
Hands-on training
The bureau said the goal is to move beyond classroom instruction and provide practical experience with technologies frequently targeted by cybercriminals.
Each building is equipped with operational devices and systems that function as they would in real life.
This allows investigators to study cyber incidents under realistic conditions.
Data center mirrors corporate networks
The facility also contains a data center with more than 200 physical servers.
The servers run a mix of:
- Windows systems.
- Linux systems.
According to the FBI, the setup is intended to reflect the environments investigators often encounter when responding to breaches or executing search warrants.
“They’re cold, they’re cramped, they’re noisy, they’re dark, they’re miserable,” Dave Beachboard, the range’s program manager, said in the FBI’s description of the facility.
Simulating ransomware attacks
The Kinetic Cyber Range enables investigators to examine how ransomware attacks can affect critical services.
Scenarios include incidents that could disrupt systems whose failure may endanger lives, such as hospital networks.
The FBI said the facility helps investigators prepare for the pressure and decision-making involved in handling such events.
Digital forensics training
The range is also used to teach digital forensics techniques.
These methods are employed to extract information from modern encrypted devices and support criminal investigations.
According to the report, the tools involved often rely on undisclosed vulnerabilities to bypass security protections built into devices.
The use of such techniques has been controversial because the vulnerabilities are not shared with manufacturers including:
- Apple.
- Google.
Rising cybercrime losses
The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, based on more than 1 million complaints, recorded $20.9 billion in cybercrime-related losses in the United States.
That represented a 26% increase from the previous year.
The report identified ransomware as the leading continuing threat to critical infrastructure.
Key features of the Kinetic Cyber Range
- 22,000-square-foot training facility.
- Opened in February 2025.
- More than 1,400 personnel trained.
- Replica homes, businesses and public facilities.
- Data center with over 200 servers.
- Simulated ransomware and digital forensics exercises.
TL;DR
The FBI has disclosed a 22,000-square-foot replica town in Alabama designed to train investigators to handle cyberattacks and digital investigations. The facility includes homes, businesses, a hospital and a data center to recreate real-world scenarios.
AI summary
- The FBI built a replica town called the Kinetic Cyber Range.
- The facility opened in February 2025 in Huntsville, Alabama.
- It includes homes, businesses, roads and a hospital.
- More than 1,400 personnel have trained there.
- The site simulates ransomware attacks and supports digital forensics training.
