Security technology is not the only element of effective preparation, and cyber threats can impact organisations of all sizes. There should also be a clear understanding of the appropriate response to a disclosure by both employees and leadership teams.There should also be a clear understanding of what to do in the event of an incident by both employees and leadership teams. There are regular tabletop exercises cyber security sessions that provide an opportunity to simulate realistic incidents and discuss the impact and response to such incidents without putting live systems at risk.

What Is a Cyber Security Tabletop Exercise?

A tabletop exercise is a conversation-based (discussion) exercise in which the participants go through a hypothetical security incident. It could be ransomware, a data breach, stolen credentials or other cyber attacks.

The exercise doesn't actually involve an attack, but rather a series of developments that the participants must explain how they would react. This gives students the chance to review decision making, communication and security protocols in a safe setting.

Identify Gaps in Incident Response

Regular exercises can help identify gaps in an organisation's response processes, one of the key advantages. Having a detailed incident response plan is great, but employees may not know where it is or what their role is.

A tabletop exercise can help the teams uncover problems, like lack of communication, confusion over escalation steps, or failure to have contact information for everyone. The information gained from these findings can then be fed into the organisation's response strategy.

Improve Communication and Coordination

Cyber incidents can impact many departments, such as IT, security, management, legal, communications and human resources. These groups may not be able to work well together if a real incident occurs, without training.

Tabletop exercises provide a chance for all participants to practise information sharing and decision-making. They can also define the communication protocol and when it should happen with the different stakeholders involved.

Prepare Employees for Realistic Scenarios

While discussing security awareness training, people may be taught to avoid threats but they have to know what to do when a threat is discovered. A realistic exercise can assist staff to become acquainted with the actions they may need to take.

The scenarios may be varied to suit the organisation's risks. For instance, a company that processes sensitive information from customers could simulate a data breach, while another organisation could concentrate on ransomware or a compromised employee account.

Understand How to Conduct a Tabletop Exercise

First, any organisation that wants to know, "How to conduct a tabletop exercise?" should determine a clear objective. The exercise should be conducted on a realistic scenario which is relevant to the organisation's systems, operations and potential threats.

Then the participants should be introduced with the scenario and slowly introduced to new developments. Facilitators may ask questions regarding decision making, responsibilities, communication and recovery. It's not about testing a person or pointing fingers, but about learning the capability of the organisation as a whole.

Strengthen Business Continuity

A cyber incident can impact more than an organisation's IT environment. It can disrupt the operations of the company, its communication, financial matters and customer service.

Table top exercises can assist businesses in thinking through what they would do if they had to continue to operate critical functions while systems are being investigated or restored. This can help to build resilience and continuity planning for the whole business.

Turn Lessons Into Improvements

What happens after a tabletop exercise is the value to an organisation. Teams should record key observations, review and update relevant procedures for improvement.

Regular exercises can also help to ensure that previous weaknesses have been resolved. Running scenarios over time can also gain familiarity and add in new challenges to mirror a changing threat landscape.

Make Cyber Preparedness an Ongoing Process

Preparing for cyber security should not be a one-off occurrence. Response capabilities should be periodically reviewed as threats, technologies, people and business processes evolve.

Scheduled tabletop exercises cyber security allow businesses to practise the procedures they would follow in case of a real incident, coordinate and find out in advance what they might have missed. Tabletop exercises can be a valuable component of an organisation's overall cyber resilience strategy when they are realistic, have clear objectives and meaningful follow-up.