Surprisingly, most organizations that fall victim to cyber-attacks have their mitigation and incident response plans. But all of them commit the same mistake – overestimating the efficiency of their security plans once the attack hits them and also underestimating the attacker.
Our Tabletop exercises are designed and implemented to avoid both of these cases. At SECOPS24, our cybersecurity experts conduct thorough and comprehensive tabletop exercises to challenge and test your security strategy, refine the incident response plans, and fortify your risk management and information security processes.
What We Offer
Our tabletop exercises are facilitator-led, discussion-based simulations of potential security incidents and security-risk scenarios. These verbally-simulated incidents are carefully tailored to the organization’s unique operational needs and IT environment. Our services team then takes the response team and the stakeholders through a real-time drill and subsequent discussion about the course of action, individual responsibilities, and coordination.
By putting your organizations through various simulated security incidents, our tabletop exercises serve as a litmus test for your readiness against cyber-attacks and recommend the proper Optimizations to fortify your incident response plans.
Our Approach
Our tabletop exercise approach enabled the organization’s security team and stakeholders to conduct various planning exercises on a versatile range of threats. Our exercise flow involves goal setting, customized scenario development, and engaging the right people.
- Our expert facilitator zeros in on the security goals based on the client’s needs, current security posture, organization requirements, industry, and regulations.
- The facilitator creates a simulated situation known as ‘test input’ designed to mimic real cybersecurity issues that could potentially occur in the IT environment of the client. This simulated situation is perfectly customized to match the current level of the client’s security measures and loopholes, industry trends, and security regulations.
- The right technical personnel, team members, and decision-makers across the organization, who would be involved in a similar real-life cyber security incident, are involved in this simulated situation
Our Tabletop Exercise Workflow
Our Tabletop Exercise (TTX) flow follows a proven structure consistent with cybersecurity tabletop exercises of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Here is a brief 3-point outline of our comprehensive workflow that helps an organization practice and refine its response to cybersecurity incidents
Inputs
The input to the stakeholders is a realistic cybersecurity situation tailored to assist exercise objectives and goals. Based on the type of incidents an organization faces, the information may also include internal reports on vulnerabilities, media reports on cybersecurity practices, network data anomalies or performance issues, scripted injects, and even new contingency plans.
Process
The facilitator monitors and directs the discussion among the stakeholders through an array of steps that include assessing the situation, identifying the security implications, developing a course of action, and implementing plans for each case and its injection.
This comprehensive process aims to thread through uncertainties and point out weaknesses in the response measures. We facilitate active stakeholder discussions by facilitating constructive conversations that create a common consensus, refine courses of action, and develop recommendations.
Outputs
Our deliverables include materials, handouts, and documents that highlight the nature of the situations created and the discussions that were done, along with their summaries.
We document the process, from current incident response plans to proposed exercise schedules, handouts on scenarios, notes, and a discussion summary. Our extensive documentation helps your team objectively evaluate incident preparedness, identify deficiencies, improve decision-making, and refine overall incident response.
Why Choose SECOPS24?
A streamlined and dynamic incident response plan is critical for effectively identifying, responding to, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents. Unfortunately, many organizations overestimate the efficiency of their existing programs and learn valuable lessons the hard way. However, with our comprehensive Tabletop exercise, you can proactively avoid such pitfalls.
Here’s how our Tabletop Exercises at SECOPS24 can enrich your security and refine your overall incident response
Objectively Evaluate Incident Response Plans
Our tabletop exercises provide an unbiased assessment of your incident response plans, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
Risk Identification and Analysis
Based on the collated security information, our security teams evaluate and analyze the potential risks associated with the vendors. Cybersecurity vulnerabilities, compliance gaps, and data breach concerns, potential business continuity risks – we catch them all here using our frameworks and tools.
Clarify Roles and Responsibilities
The tailor-made exercises help clarify the roles and responsibilities of the response team and stakeholders, ensuring everyone knows their specific tasks during a cyber incident.
Highlight Areas for Improvement
Through the assessments and reports, we identify areas needing improvement in your incident response procedures, enabling you to enhance your cybersecurity readiness.
Foster Inter-departmental Collaboration
Our exercises promote better coordination and communication between departments. This helps you create a cohesive and unified approach to handling cyber incidents.
Secure Buy-ins for Future Decisions
By demonstrating the importance of cybersecurity preparedness, our exercises and the respective recommendations help obtain stakeholders’ support and buy-ins for future cybersecurity investments.
At SECOPS24, our cybersecurity experts utilize the Tabletop exercise to thoroughly assess your organization’s incident response capabilities. The activity provides invaluable insights and is a blueprint to refine your incident response procedures and strengthen your defenses.
