Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercises
Your incident response plan looks good on paper. The question is whether it works when your CRO is asking questions, your legal counsel is worried about disclosure, and your CTO is trying to figure out if the backup actually works. Tabletop exercises test your plan against realistic scenarios before a real crisis does it for you.
What Are Tabletop Exercises?
A tabletop exercise is a facilitated, discussion-based simulation where key stakeholders walk through a realistic cyber incident scenario. No actual systems are affected. Instead, participants discuss their decision-making, communication, and response actions as injects (new information about the evolving scenario) arrive throughout the session.
The goal is not to pass or fail. It is to identify gaps in your incident response plan, clarify roles and responsibilities, test communication channels, and build muscle memory for the decisions you will face during a real incident. Organisations that exercise regularly respond faster and more effectively when incidents occur.
What’s Covered
Exercise design and execution.
Ransomware Scenarios
Simulated ransomware attack with escalating injects. Initial compromise, lateral movement detection, encryption discovery, ransom demand, and recovery decisions. Tests technical response, business continuity, and executive decision-making.
Data Breach Scenarios
Customer data exfiltration detected. Tests breach notification procedures, legal assessment, regulatory reporting obligations, customer communication, and forensic investigation coordination.
Insider Threat Scenarios
Malicious insider or compromised privileged account. Tests detection capabilities, access revocation procedures, investigation workflows, and containment decisions.
Cloud Security Incidents
Cloud-specific scenarios — misconfigured storage exposure, cloud account compromise, supply chain attack through SaaS provider. Tests cloud incident response capabilities.
Executive-Level Exercises
Board and C-suite exercises focused on strategic decision-making. Crisis communication, stakeholder management, regulatory disclosure, and business impact assessment.
Technical Team Exercises
SOC and IR team exercises focused on detection, investigation, containment, and recovery. Tests technical playbooks, tooling, and coordination between teams.
Our Approach
Tailored scenarios, facilitated execution.
Scenario Design
We design scenarios based on your threat profile, industry, and the specific capabilities you want to test. Scenarios are realistic — based on real incidents we have investigated, not generic templates.
Inject Development
A sequence of injects (new information) designed to create realistic pressure and decision points. Timed to simulate the pace of a real incident. Calibrated to your team’s experience level.
Facilitated Exercise
A Bravix consultant facilitates the session. Injects delivered at scheduled intervals. Decisions discussed, actions recorded, and observations noted. The facilitator guides without leading.
Report & Improvement
Post-exercise report with observations, identified gaps, and prioritised recommendations. Follow-up actions tracked. Comparison with previous exercises to measure improvement.
Why Bravix Tabletop Exercises?
Offensive-Informed Scenarios
Our scenarios are designed by consultants who investigate real breaches. The attack progression, timeline, and complications reflect reality, not Hollywood.
Experienced Facilitators
Our facilitators have run exercises for technical teams, executive boards, and cross-functional crisis teams. They manage the room, keep discussions productive, and extract actionable observations.
Progressive Programme
Single exercises are useful. Progressive programmes that build on previous findings and introduce increasing complexity are transformative. We design exercise series that develop capability over time.
Actionable Reports
Post-exercise reports that go beyond observations. Prioritised improvement actions, responsible owners, and timeline recommendations. The report drives actual change.
Test Your Incident Response
Run a tabletop exercise before a real incident does it for you. Scenarios designed by security practitioners, facilitated by experienced consultants.