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…
The Rising Threat of Deepfake Attacks In 2024, Arup, a global engineering consulting firm, fell victim to an elaborate deepfake scam. A finance employee participated in what appeared to be a legitimate video conference with the company’s CFO and other senior leaders. Unbeknownst to them, every participant—except the employee—was a deepfake, generated by cybercriminals using…
Your cyber incident response will fail if you: ✅ Don’t train your team regularly ✅ Don’t stress-test your plan with tabletop exercises ✅ Don’t remediate weaknesses after real incidents or simulations The good news? These failures are entirely preventable. The organizations that train, test, and improve are the ones that survive—and even thrive—when an attack…
Article written by Dani Andrews Amid rising disruptions to global economic and social standards, crisis management services have increased in demand. So much so, in fact, that a recent worldwide forecast from the data analysis provider Grand Market Insights estimates that the crisis management market is estimated to be worth around $121.4 billion. From 2024…
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…
According to IBM’s 2024 Data Breach Report, the staggering financial impact of data breaches reached a global average of $4.88 million!. The report goes on to state that, “75% of the increase in average breach costs in this year’s study was due to the cost of lost business and post-breach response activities.” Of course, it’s…
In episode 148 of the PreparedEx Podcast, we continue our exploration of essential crisis leadership lessons with part 2 of our series. Building on the foundational insights from episode 147, this episode delves into lessons 7 through 12, offering deeper perspectives on navigating crises. We discuss advanced strategies for maintaining composure under pressure, the importance…
In episode 147 of the PreparedEx Podcast, we delve into key lessons learned from countless crisis simulation exercises conducted with executive teams. These sessions, designed to test leadership strategies under intense pressure, reveal invaluable insights into how top leaders make critical decisions, communicate effectively, and guide their organizations through crises. Join us as we explore…
In today’s dynamic and unpredictable business landscape, effectively managing crises is paramount for any organization’s success and continuity. Crisis simulation exercises have emerged as invaluable tools for assessing and enhancing an organization’s readiness to respond to various threats and challenges. However, the traditional approach to these exercises often overlooks a crucial element: storytelling. In this…
We design, deliver, and evaluate numerous crisis simulation exercises for executive teams each year, rigorously testing leadership strategies under high-pressure scenarios. Drawing from insights gained across this year’s exercises, including 12 executive-level sessions, we’ve uncovered invaluable lessons on how top leaders navigate uncertainty, make critical decisions, and guide their organizations through crises. 1. Top Leaders…