Founded in 2014 as the information warfare division of IDS International, we created the social media environment and internet replication (SMEIR) technology to address the cyber and information warfare training needs of the US military, including the Combat Training Center (CTC) operational environments at the National Training Center (NTC) and the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). The initial focus was to provide conventional Army units with an opportunity to access, research, and perform data analysis on social media and internet content, while affording the unit’s Public Affairs (PA), Military Intelligence (MI), Psychological Operations (PSYOPS), and Civil Affairs (CA) elements the opportunity to interact online with the population as part of military exercises.
As Cyber Mission Force (CMF) and United States Special Forces Command (USSOCOM) elements increased their participation at the CTCs, our technology grew to incorporate the unique training scenarios these elements require. To meet these initial requirements, our trainers provided USSOCOM elements with the ability to train on digital human intelligence tradecraft and virtually replicated real-world adversary network infrastructures that facilitated the CMF to be trained in network mapping, attack, and defense within select portions of the replicated network.
We became SITE 525 when we began working with the special operations community in 2019 to support “Synthetic Internet for Training and Exercises” and SITE became shorthand for this technology and our program. Today, SITE is widely used by the Special Operations community and other DoD elements for internet replication. Our support for cyber and information warfare training includes the National Cyber Range (NCR) program, the Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE), and cyber ranges such as the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC).
