Cyber Tabletop Exercises 2025: Top Tips for an Effective Cyber Drill

If you’re caught up on world news, you couldn’t have missed the recent cyber attacks on Marks and Spencer, Jaguar Land Rover and the European Airports. These attacks have yet again highlighted the fact that cyber attacks are no longer a distant possibility—they are an everyday reality. And they can strike when you least expect them! 

From ransomware attacks to supply chain compromises, organisations of all sizes are being compromised. The looming question is: Will your business survive the stress test when attackers strike?

The only way to answer that question is with Cyber Tabletop Exercises and Cyber Drills. These drills, based on real-world cyber attack scenarios, test the capabilities of your business and your team to handle a real cybersecurity incident. They are a litmus test for the viability of your Cyber Incident Response plans and strategies. 

By simulating real, relevant attack scenarios, you can judge whether your team is acquainted enough with your organisational plans and playbooks for disaster recovery. You’ll also be able to see if they know their individual roles and responsibilities in case of an attack.  

These drills prepare your leadership, IT teams, and business units for the “what ifs” of cyber crime. Think of them as fire drills, but for cyber incidents—structured, scenario-based simulations that uncover gaps in your defences and strengthen your response muscle.

Key Features of a Successful Cyber Tabletop Exercises

As discussed above, a Cyber Tabletop Exercise is a structured, discussion-based activity where key stakeholders walk through a hypothetical cyber attack scenario. Unlike purely technical simulations, these exercises focus on decision-making, communication, and coordination.

Participants sit around a table (physical or virtual) and role-play how their organisation would respond if, say, a ransomware attack encrypted critical systems or a phishing campaign compromised employee accounts. The goal isn’t to point fingers, but to stress-test your Incident Response Plan and ensure everyone knows their roles in a real crisis.

Here’s a look at the top features of a successful cyber drill: 

• Realistic Scenario-Driven: Each session must be based on a realistic cyber-attack scenario tailored to your sector and your specific business. Generic or outdated scenarios will not yield any real benefits. If you simulate an attack that is very unlikely to strike a business of your size or in your sector, the exercise is essentially futile. For this reason, it’s critical to conduct a thorough threat assessment before developing your scenario—consider industry trends, relevant regulatory pressures, recent attack methods, and, where possible, lessons learned from actual incidents impacting organisations similar to yours.

  A high-impact tabletop exercise incorporates factors unique to your operating environment, such as your size, technology stack, supply chain dependencies, and the regulatory obligations you face. Regularly updating scenarios ensures that your team is consistently prepared for the most probable and potentially damaging types of cyber threats relevant to your business. Keep the scenarios dynamic and incorporate input from leaders across IT, risk, compliance, and business operations to sharpen realism and ensure engagement.

  Most importantly, the chosen scenario shouldn’t just ‘sound’ plausible—it must be believable to your leadership and operational teams. This will prompt genuine decision-making, authentic escalation paths, and effective cross-departmental communication throughout the exercise. By prioritising relevance, your cyber attack scenario will foster meaningful learning, surface real gaps, and deliver actionable insights that strengthen your overall incident response and cyber resilience. 

• Cross-functional: Cybersecurity stopped being an IT problem a long time ago. It is now a central business focus. As recent attacks have illustrated, a cyber attack directly impacts business continuity, bottomline and reputation. Therefore, the response to an attack can’t just be limited to technical aspects alone.
  
  Every important business function must be involved. Business leaders should definitely be at the forefront of cyber resilience planning and practise. We also offer Executive Tabletop Exercises that are curated for time-crunched board members and C-suite leaders. These exercises are brief and delivered in a business language so that the executive team is able to quickly grasp the threats that face their business and understand their role during a cyber crisis.   
  
  It’s equally critical to involve representatives from the legal, HR, PR and communications teams. In the event of an actual cyber attack, the legal and compliance teams will have to ensure that the business meets all regulatory requirements. The HR team will liaise with internal stakeholders. The PR and Communications team plays a pivotal role in communicating with external stakeholders like the media, affected customers, shareholders etc. It’s therefore imperative that all teams come together to practise a unified and cohesive response.  

• Action-oriented: A well-designed cyber drill doesn’t just end with theoretical discussions or hypothetical outcomes—it drives tangible, actionable results. Every exercise should culminate in a set of clear action items tailored to the organisation’s unique environment. 

These outcomes typically include:

1. Identifying Gaps: Cyber drills should help uncover weaknesses in your current incident response plans, processes, and communication protocols. Whether it’s a missing escalation step, an overlooked dependency, or unclear ownership, these gaps become visible only when a real-world scenario is simulated.

2. Improving Playbooks: The insights from a cyber tabletop exercise should directly feed into refining incident response playbooks. Teams can update checklists, streamline workflows, and create more practical, step-by-step guidance based on how they actually performed under pressure.

3. Strengthening Readiness: By translating lessons into action items, your organisation will emerge from a drill not just with more awareness, but with a stronger, measurable level of preparedness for future incidents.

Why Cyber Drills Matter More Than Ever

As we discussed earlier, cyber threats are evolving at an unprecedented pace in 2025. Organisations across every industry have been targeted in the last 9 months. From popular retail chains, luxury brands, airports to automotive giants, literally nobody has been spared.  

With ransomware, phishing, supply chain attacks, and insider risks becoming more sophisticated, a written plan alone is no longer enough. Drills allow teams to practice these plans under pressure and test their own decision-making skills. Tabletop exercises expose real gaps before attackers find them. They also help align executives, IT, legal, and communications teams on their roles, ensuring faster, coordinated responses. In an era where minutes can make or break reputations, cyber drills are critical for managing the impact of a cybersecurity incident. 

Here’s a closer look at the top reasons why tabletop exercises are a critical component in cybersecurity today: 

1. Global regulations demand regular resilience testing: Regulatory frameworks such as DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) and NIS2 are increasingly emphasising the critical need for organisations to regularly test their incident response capabilities. These mandates are not merely suggestions but legal requirements designed to bolster the resilience of digital infrastructures across various sectors.
   
   The EU DORA, specifically targeting the financial sector, aims to ensure that financial entities can withstand, respond to, and recover from all types of ICT-related disruptions and threats. A core tenet of DORA is mandatory operational resilience testing, including sophisticated cyber tabletop exercises and penetration testing, to identify weaknesses and refine response strategies.
   
   Similarly, NIS2, which expands upon the original NIS Directive, applies to a broader range of critical entities in sectors like energy, transport, health, and digital infrastructure. It mandates robust cybersecurity measures, including incident handling and crisis management, with a strong focus on regular testing and evaluation of these capabilities. 
   
   With regular tabletop testing, you ensure that you remain compliant with these regulations and also move beyond passive compliance to proactive resilience.
   
   
2. Threats are more sophisticated: Threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse, posing significant challenges for organisations worldwide. Think of the outages caused at European airports over September leading to flight delays, cancellations and a whole lot of chaos. In the case of Jaguar Land Rover, production has been halted for almost 4 weeks after a cyber incident.
   
   These cyber attacks make it clear that even large, mature organisations with the best of resources at their disposal, are no longer immune to the sophistication of modern cyber crime. Advanced persistent threats (APTs) characterised by their stealth, persistence, and ability to adapt to defensive measures, make it exceptionally difficult to detect and mitigate them. 
   
   The rise of AI-driven phishing and other automated attack vectors is further transforming the threat landscape. Attackers are now employing artificial intelligence and machine learning to craft highly convincing and personalized phishing emails, capable of bypassing traditional spam filters and exploiting human vulnerabilities with greater efficacy. This rapid evolution of attack methodologies means that traditional security policies and static defences are easily outpaced. 
   
   The constant arms race between attackers and defenders necessitates a proactive and adaptive approach to cybersecurity. Cyber tabletop exercises are a vital component of this approach, allowing organisations to rehearse for such threats and make agile policy adjustments to remain resilient in the face of these escalating challenges.
   
   
   
3. Business continuity is non-negotiable: Customers, regulators, and shareholders expect resilience, not excuses. The tolerance for downtime is almost zero today, yet we hear of businesses struggling all the time.
   
   Whether it’s a ransomware attack, supply chain compromise, or insider sabotage, disruptions to critical systems can immediately erode trust and confidence. Customers expect services to remain available. Regulators demand compliance with stringent resilience frameworks. And shareholders see business continuity as a measure of leadership competence. The reality is simple: when systems go down, the damage extends beyond financial loss to reputation and long-term competitiveness.
   
   This is where cyber tabletop exercises prove indispensable. They allow leadership teams and operational staff to walk through realistic attack scenarios in a safe environment. By simulating disruption, one can test how effectively teams will communicate, escalate, and respond under pressure. The outcome is not just a checklist of improvements but a stronger assurance to all stakeholders that the organisation has the discipline and readiness to continue operating even when under attack. 
   
   
4. Human error is still the weakest link: Cyber attack simulations expose blind spots in communication and escalation pathways. No matter how advanced the technology stack or how comprehensive the security tools, people remain at the heart of cyber incident response.
   
   A single misjudged click, a delay in escalating an issue, or unclear ownership of responsibilities can escalate a manageable incident into a full-blown crisis. Cyber tabletop exercises shine a light on these vulnerabilities by recreating realistic attack scenarios that force individuals to act and communicate as they would in a live incident.
   
   Regular rehearsals make people more aware of the risks they face in their day-to-day roles and how their actions can either contain or worsen an incident. For example, a drill may highlight that a junior employee doesn’t know whom to contact after detecting a phishing email. It may show that leadership teams hesitate to make time-critical decisions without complete information. These blind spots only surface when pressure is simulated.
   
   By exposing these weaknesses in a controlled environment, tabletop exercises not only identify training gaps but also teach individuals how to respond calmly and effectively. They empower employees to react in ways that reduce harm rather than contribute to it. Over time, these simulations foster a culture where staff understand that security is not just the responsibility of the IT team—it’s everyone’s job. In doing so, organisations turn their “weakest link” into a stronger, more resilient line of defence.
   
   
   

Final Thoughts

Cyber Tabletop Exercises and Cyber Drills are no longer optional—they are strategic imperatives for 2025. They are the best and most cost-effective option you have for identifying blind spots in your security strategy. It’s also the most effective way to ensure everyone is conversant with the incident response plan and playbooks.  

But it’s important to run the cyber drill professionally and preferably with the help of an external expert. External facilitators bring a kind of unbiased, outsider’s perspective that can be really valuable to get the most out of your cyber drill. They also have cross-industry experience that brings you a global perspective that internal teams won’t be able to match.  

At Cyber Management Alliance, we’ve facilitated hundreds of tailored cyber drills across industries. As the creators of the NCSC-Assured Cyber Incident Planning & Response Training and facilitators of world-class tabletop exercises, we help organisations turn theory into practice—and uncertainty into confidence.

Reach out to us today and find out more about how we can curate a bespoke tabletop exercise for your organisation.