October 17, 2023 at 10:03AM
A tabletop exercise is a discussion-based practice that simulates a cybersecurity incident response. It is important to take a social approach during the exercise and include various participants from different teams. It is also crucial to vary the threat types used in the exercise to ensure preparedness. The scenario should be realistic but not overwhelming, and lessons learned from the exercise should be implemented. Lastly, scoping the exercise correctly is important to uncover vulnerabilities and weaknesses specific to different threat types.
The meeting notes discuss the importance of incident response tabletop exercises in coaching a technical or executive audience through the cybersecurity incident response life cycle. It emphasizes the need to tailor the exercise to the organization’s technical environment, industry, sector, and business objectives.
The notes also highlight six common mistakes organizations make when conducting tabletop exercises:
1. Not taking a social approach: It is essential to encourage all participants to actively participate in discussions rather than being talked at for hours. A discussion-based approach ensures efficiency.
2. Not varying the participants: Including the same people in every exercise limits its value. Adding different teams or stakeholders for different scenarios provides diverse insights.
3. Repeatedly using the same scenario threat type: Organizations should focus on various threat types to be more resilient and prepared for different risks.
4. Choosing a “doomsday” scenario: While the scenario should feel realistic, it should not be overly damaging or discouraging. The exercise should be motivating and insightful.
5. Not implementing the lessons learned: Recommendations from tabletop exercises should be implemented to avoid repetitive mistakes.
6. Not scoping the exercise and expectations correctly: The exercise should not be expected to identify all problems or vulnerabilities in an environment. Each scenario focus reveals specific weaknesses.
Overall, tabletop exercises are valuable tools for cybersecurity training and improving an organization’s cyber resilience.