Conducting a Tabletop Exercise

A cybersecurity manager has scheduled biannual meetings with the IT team and department leaders to discuss how they would respond to hypothetical cyberattacks.

During these meetings, the manager presents a scenario and injects additional information throughout the session to replicate what might occur in a dynamic cybersecurity event involving the company, its facilities, its data, and its staff.

Which of the following describes what the manager is doing?

A.

Developing an incident response plan

B.

Building a disaster recovery plan

C.

Conducting a tabletop exercise

D.

Running a simulation exercise.

C.

The cybersecurity manager in this scenario is conducting a tabletop exercise, which is a type of training and testing that simulates a hypothetical cybersecurity event. Tabletop exercises are commonly used to evaluate an organization's readiness and response capability in the event of a cyberattack, natural disaster, or other emergency situation.

During a tabletop exercise, the manager presents a scenario and injects additional information throughout the session to replicate what might occur in a dynamic cybersecurity event involving the company, its facilities, its data, and its staff. The IT team and department leaders then work together to discuss and develop a response plan, identify gaps in their current plan, and determine ways to improve their readiness for future events.

Tabletop exercises can be used to test and evaluate various aspects of an organization's cybersecurity program, including incident response, disaster recovery, business continuity, and crisis management. By conducting regular tabletop exercises, organizations can identify weaknesses and areas for improvement in their response plans and make necessary changes to better protect their assets and minimize the impact of potential cyber incidents.