Black Sky Symposium
JUNE 9 – 11, 2026
Day(s)
:
Hour(s)
:
Minute(s)
:
Second(s)
To Preserve Operational Realism & Balanced Public-Private Sector Representation
Limited to 100 Participants, 50 Observers
Please Click Register Above ASAP to Secure Your Seat
GEOINT-ISAC | IACI Members – $ 1250.00
Non-Members – $ 1750.00 | Observers – $ 900.00
SLTT / Government – Discount
NASA/Kennedy Space Center, FL
Hannibal | Strategy & Security
About the Event
Black Sky Event
What is a Black Sky Event?
Imagine a day where the screens go dark, the pumps stop moving water, and the power grid falls silent across multiple regions simultaneously. This isn’t just a localized outage—it is a Black Sky Event: a catastrophic, long-duration power outage caused by a sophisticated, coordinated cyber-physical assault on our nation’s critical infrastructure.
The Black Syk Symposium is a high-stakes, immersive cybersecurity exercise designed to test the limits of our collective resilience. We aren’t just practicing for a “bad day”—we are preparing for the “worst case.”
Black Sky Exercise
Our Scenario
Between 2027 and 2049, China intends to reunify with Taiwan – including by force if necessary.
The US Intelligence community expects that China would attack critical infrastructure in the US homeland to induce societal panic, impede US decision-making and interfere with the deployment of US forces.
Given the success of Chinese APTs in compromising US critical infrastructure, we know that such attacks are possible and would likely result in achieving these three goals.
Who Can Attend
Join 100 Public-Private Critical Infrastructure Owners and Operators Examining and Reducing Collective Interdependent Risk
Government – State Local, Federal | Emergency Management (Law Enforcement, Fire/Rescue)
Chemical | Commercial Facilities | Communications | Energy | Financial Services | Health | IT | Manufacturing | Transportation | Geospatial (Undersea, Terrestrial Earth, Climate, Space)
Schedule
June 9, 1-5pm ET
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Introductions | Security Convergence Collective Intel Sharing & Response
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Dinner Under Space Shuttle Atlantis
Dinner Under Space Shuttle Atlantis
Experience 60+ Interactive Exhibits
June 10th, 2026
8:30 AM – 5 PM
Black Sky Event
Wargame-Enhanced Tabletop Exercise (WETP)
Adversary Destructive Malware Attacks Against Interdependent
Public-Private Critical Infrastructure
Key Topics for Discussion
The exercise will focus on the complex interdependencies between critical sectors. Discussions are structured around these six pillars:
1. Intersectoral Cascading Failures and Interdependencies
Discussion: How does the total failure of the bulk power system immediately compromise other critical infrastructure? (e.g., How does loss of power impact water pumping, wastewater treatment, and natural gas compression needed for backup power generation?)
2. Command, Control, and Communication (C3) Without the Grid
Discussion: When cellular networks, the internet, and landlines are down, how do we establish a Common Operating Picture (COP) like the one visualized? We must test and validate non-grid dependent communication channels (satellite systems, HF radio, FIRSTNET) and define the hierarchy of command when normal communication protocols fragment.
3. Critical Resource Prioritization and Logistics
Discussion: We cannot protect or restore everything simultaneously. What is the national list of priorities? (e.g., Are we fueling hospital generators, ensuring water pressure, or prioritizing the restoration of the communications hub?) We must discuss the mechanics of moving critical supplies (fuel, water, food) when transportation systems are gridlocked and fueling stations have no power.
4. Private-Public Partnership (PPP) Integration and Authority
Discussion: 80% of critical infrastructure is privately owned. In a Black Sky Event, what are the legal and operational mechanisms for the private sector to coordinate with and receive support from local, state, and federal government? We must clarify command structures and resource allocation authorities.
5. Continuous Operations (COOP) and Personnel Welfare
Discussion: Who are the essential personnel required to remain on shift for weeks? How are we supporting their families when there is no power at their homes? We must test the viability of Continuity of Operations plans for our command centers.
6. Long-Term Restoration Strategy and Social Stability
Discussion: A true Black Sky recovery is not measured in days, but weeks or months. How do we manage public expectations, prevent civil unrest, and ensure the delivery of essential human services during a prolonged outage while simultaneously working on a phased restoration of the grid?
June 11th, 2026
8:30 AM to 12 PM
Building High-Performing Teams
After-Action Report
Actionable Next Steps
Security Responder Certification
12pm-5pm – Optional
Kennedy Space Center
Visitor Complex Tour
As you depart this exercise, your action items are:
1. Revise and Stress-Test Sector-Specific Plans
Your emergency plans must now assume a worst-case scenario: multi-week duration, regional or national scale, and concurrent failure of multiple redundant systems. If your backup plan for power failure is “plug into the next circuit,” you no longer have a plan.
2. Implement and Test Resilient Communication Systems
Immediately audit your organization’s non-grid-dependent communication systems. Conduct regular “dark” drills where these systems are the only means of communication, ensuring your operators are proficient.
3. Deepen Off-Grid Resource Agreements
Formalize Mutual Assistance Agreements (MAAs) and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) not just with peers in your own sector, but with critical interdependent partners (e.g., fuel suppliers and communication providers). These must include specific, stress-tested protocols for activation.
4. Codify the Common Operating Picture (COP)
The visualization and information sharing we used today must be formalized. Understand how your organization contributes data to and extracts actionable intelligence from the centralized response picture.
5. Prioritize “Sparing” and Hardening Strategies
Recognize that long-lead-time components (like large power transformers) must have strategic reserves. Invest in physical hardening and cybersecurity defenses that are validated against advanced threats.
Black Sky Symposium
JUNE 9 – 11, 2026
Day(s)
:
Hour(s)
:
Minute(s)
:
Second(s)
To Preserve Operational Realism & Balanced Public-Private Sector Representation
Limited to 100 Participants, 50 Observers
Please Click Register Above ASAP to Secure Your Seat
Keynote speakers
Edward Johnson
Creative Director
Martha Smith
Product Designer
Roana Marques
Front End Developer