Tabletop Exercises: The Easiest Way to Find Gaps Before an Incident
It’s not uncommon for organisations to make poor decisions when dealing with cyber incidents.
And that makes sense; dealing with a cyber attack or data breach can be extremely stressful and presents a unique pressure. In their haste to return to normal operations, we’ve seen examples where organisations lacking an appropriate Incident Response plan have skipped diagnosing a breach and gone straight to remediation, leading to the same vulnerability being immediately exploited in additional attacks.
However, even having an agreed plan in place doesn’t guarantee a swift, effective response to an incident, especially if that plan hasn’t been properly tested.
Tabletop Exercises prove their worth here, acting as a safe space to test your incident response plan and ensure your reporting, processes and decision-making are effective before a crisis actually occurs. In this latest post, we’ll look at:
How Tabletop Exercises Work
Who should be included in them
What they focus on
The value and benefits they bring
How a Tabletop Exercise works
Tabletop exercises aim to replicate realistic incidents by putting the team tasked with managing their organisation’s incident response in a simulated cyber attack scenario. The scenario is typically based on pre-identified organisational threats and vulnerabilities that the organisation would likely face, and the exercise is conducted in a scheduled manner to minimise any disruption to day-to-day activities.
During the exercise, the organisation will discuss typical incident response procedures that include:
decision-making,
roles and responsibilities,
communication methods,
leadership and governance,
and escalation processes to draw out any weaknesses in the processes but also identify what the organisation is doing well.
Who should be included in the exercise
Participants from different departments within the business should be involved in the tabletop exercise: HR, IT, senior leadership, Legal, Finance, and Communications to ensure that there is clarity from all relevant functions.
What the exercise will focus on
Common tabletop exercise simulations include ransomware attacks, data breaches, supplier or third-party outages and cloud service disruption. Although different businesses face different threats that would impact the organisation’s everyday business processes, the exercise can take those into account to craft a more relevant exercise if and when needed.
The exercise as a whole focuses on people, processes and leadership in a stressful and high-pressure environment, highlighting organisational readiness for incidents.
What’s the value of a Tabletop Exercise?
It’s a standard thought across the cyber security industry, but cyber attacks truly are a case of when, not if. Most organisations will have an incident response plan or documented process to deal with those attacks, but frequently, that plan hasn’t been tried or tested to ensure that it actually serves the purpose it was developed for. Issues such as unclear ownership, actions not being clearly assigned, or missing/outdated contact information can lead to delays and confusion when an incident happens. In a situation where time is of the essence, and every decision matters, a reliable incident response plan can be the difference between effectively responding to an incident and prolonging or even worsening the disruption.
As an example, the recovery assumptions of a current incident response plan may not be achievable. They may look like it on paper, but when the time comes, they are not aligned with reality and can end in further disruption. Without proper preparation, it’s incredibly difficult to know that any incident response plan will be effective when called upon.
Running through a scenario in this fashion can also assist in building confidence and familiarity in the incident response processes in a calmer, controlled environment where your operations aren’t on the line. Senior leadership is expected to make the right decisions in high-stakes environments – this takes some of that pressure off.
What are the benefits of a Tabletop Exercise?
Improved incident response readiness
Strengthened communication procedures
Increased confidence among leadership teams
Clarifies roles and responsibilities
Validates response and recovery plans
Improved cross-functional collaboration
Supports regulatory and governance requirements
Demonstrates commitment to resilience and risk management
Once the exercise has been completed, documenting the following will help to improve and refine your incident response plan:
Lessons learned
Identified gaps
Recommended improvements
Ownership of corrective actions
Target dates for completion
Looking to ensure your Incident Response plan works? PureCyber can help
A well-executed tabletop exercise can uncover uncomfortable realities, but identifying these weaknesses in a controlled environment is far better than facing them during a live cyber incident. The question should be less whether you should carry out a tabletop exercise, and more whether you can risk not doing so.
PureCyber offers bespoke Incident Response Simulations that suit your organisation’s needs and structure, ensuring you’re prepared and confident in your incident response plan when it’s needed most. Get in touch with our expert team to book your exercise.