By an exercise facilitator who has run hundreds of simulations, watched leadership teams under pressure, and learned one essential truth: when people are stressed, technology steps aside and the human element takes over. 1. A Hook That Puts You in the Room Imagine this. You’re facilitating a cyber breach exercise for your global financial firm….
When the “Unlikely” Happens on a Tuesday Picture this. It’s 8:42 a.m. on a normal Tuesday. Your operations director has just taken a sip of coffee. Emails are flowing, systems are humming — and then, suddenly, they’re not. Finance systems lock. Customer support lines light up. A breaking news tweet tags your company in a…
Imagine This It’s 9:00 a.m. on a Tuesday. Your executive team is gathered around the table for a cyber incident tabletop exercise. Suddenly, the “attack” unfolds—emails flood in, customers demand answers, and social media lights up with questions your comms team hasn’t prepared for. Everyone’s watching the facilitator to guide the conversation, adjust the injects,…
As we look toward 2026, many of our clients are already thinking about their budgets. At PreparedEx, we know that resilience planning, training, and exercises aren’t just “line items”—they’re investments in your people, your reputation, and your ability to lead when it matters most. That’s why we like to make this part of the process…
Cyberattacks don’t just expose technical weaknesses—they expose operational failures. Many organizations believe that they are ready because they have an incident response (IR) plan on paper. But in reality, most plans fail miserably during crises. The only way to truly validate your organization’s preparedness is through functional exercises—real-world simulations that test your response capabilities. These…
As businesses continue to invest in cyber security, it’s important to make sure that your team is prepared to handle a real-world attack. Tabletop exercises are a great way to test your team’s response and identify any weaknesses in your systems, processes and capabilities. In this post, we’ll share some tips on how to run…
In today’s volatile business environment, organizations face a myriad of threats, from cyberattacks to supply chain disruptions. For executive leadership teams, preparation is critical. Tabletop exercises offer a practical, low-risk way to test strategies, improve decision-making, and build organizational resilience. This step-by-step guide provides actionable instructions to help you design effective tabletop exercises tailored for…
As a CISO or technology leader, your organization’s ability to respond swiftly to incidents is critical. Most organizations struggle with their incident response tabletop exercises due to: Unrealistic Scenarios: Exercises that don’t accurately reflect real-world incidents lead to disengagement, reducing their effectiveness. Ineffective Evaluation: Poorly crafted tabletop exercises fail to properly assess the team’s ability…
Why Executive Leadership Needs to Drive Cybersecurity Preparedness In today’s interconnected world, cyber threats are no longer the sole concern of IT departments. Executive leadership has a pivotal role in ensuring the resilience of an organization. A successful cybersecurity tabletop exercise not only sharpens response strategies but also empowers leadership to navigate financial, operational, and…
The rise of sophisticated cyber threats continues to challenge businesses globally. For Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), the pressure to fortify defenses and respond effectively to incidents has never been greater. According to IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of a breach reached $4.88 million, representing a 10% increase from…