Michelle Drolet is CEO of Towerwall, a pure-play cybersecurity firm offering compliance and professional cybersecurity services.
Every 39 seconds some company is being hit by a cyberattack. Security incidents are a constant threat, an inevitability rather than a possibility. An incident response plan can help organizations as they grapple with the aftermath of a cyberattack, revealing a clear path through chaos, offering a step-by-step plan of action to contain and mitigate threats.
However, a plan on paper is just one part of the equation; its true worth lies in an organization’s ability to execute after a suspected breach. Even the most well-thought-out plan can crumble under pressure. As such, a well-coordinated incident response demands practice.
Attack simulations and tabletop exercises based on real-world incidents will provide insight into a company’s state of preparedness—at the very least, they can paint a clear picture of their position should a malicious security breach occur, allowing them to make any necessary adjustments in advance.
How Tabletop Exercises Sharpen Your Response
A tabletop exercise is a hypothetical, scenario-based activity where key stakeholders—executives, representatives from various teams (HR, PR, finance, etc.) and IT and security personnel—gather to discuss and evaluate an organization’s response to a potential security incident or cyberattack. Unlike red teaming exercises or cyberattack simulations, participants verbally walk through the hypothetical scenarios. A facilitator presents these scenarios while participants discuss how they would respond to the series of events.
Tabletop exercises can vary in complexity and scope, covering isolated incidents or more elaborate scenarios involving a series of incidents. The goal is to validate and test the effectiveness of the organization’s incident response (IR) plan and playbooks, identify gaps or areas for improvement and familiarize participants with their roles and responsibilities during a crisis. It may even help improve the IR plan and the need for additional playbooks.
As such, tabletop exercises can sharpen incident response by:
• Clarifying roles and responsibilities: The chaos of a real incident can blur the lines of responsibility. Individuals and stakeholders may find themselves pushing responsibility onto each other or hesitant to make critical decisions, all the while wasting critical time.
Tabletop exercises ensure all team members and stakeholders know their individual tasks, eliminating confusion as everyone focuses on completing their part efficiently. It also ensures that any gaps in response planning are identified. For instance, a tabletop exercise may reveal that there is nobody assigned to make decisions in the absence of the CEO.
• Enhancing communication and coordination: If during a tabletop exercise, communication breakdowns become evident, organizations can refine the communication protocols to ensure everyone receives the right information at the right time. It’s crucial that an IR plan has accurate contact information for all key personnel. Tabletop exercises can uncover missing or outdated contact details.
Communication is not just about delivering information about an incident to executives, law enforcement, customers, and other stakeholders; it is also about using the right terminology depending on the scenario and the audience. For instance, using the term “breach” for an inconsequential security incident can backfire. A tabletop exercise can highlight terminology gaps, ensuring that miscommunications and misunderstandings do not occur during an actual security incident.
• Building a resilient team: Tabletop exercises offer benefits that go beyond simply patching gaps in an IR plan. They also strengthen team dynamics, contributing to a more resilient security posture. Teams learn to work together better under pressure, a crucial skill for real-world incident response.
Tabletop exercises also raise the overall cybersecurity awareness across teams and departments. As members walk through different scenarios, they gain a better understanding of potential threats and how to report and mitigate them. This awareness can translate into improved security practices among employees, boosting confidence in their ability to manage real incidents with composure and efficacy.
Best Practices For Effective Tabletop Exercises
Organizations should aim to conduct tabletop exercises regularly, at least once a year and ideally more. An experienced facilitator can make all the difference in planning comprehensive scenarios that resemble the intricacies of real-world incidents. Involving a qualified handler or team of experts will offer invaluable foresight and provide essential guidance and support during real incidents.
For a more in-depth exercise, consider inviting external stakeholders like outside legal counsel, law enforcement or cyber insurance providers to join in. This facilitates coordination and communication between all the various entities involved in incident response.
After conducting tabletop exercises, it is important to thoroughly evaluate and document the lessons learned. This can help refine the plan, address weaknesses and serve as a baseline for future exercises.
Creating robust incident response plans goes beyond assessing IT systems and drafting procedural documents. It is equally important to engage team members in immersive and collaborative training. It enhances personal involvement and knowledge, empowering everyone to actively contribute to incident response and mitigation when needed. Combined with offensive security strategies like pen testing and red teaming, tabletop exercises can effectively validate an organization’s skills, knowledge and resilience in confronting advanced cyber threats.
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