Executive tabletops simulate cyberattacks to increase preparedness – is your team ready?

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According to CrowdStrike’s latest report, the average breakout time — the time it takes for an attacker to move laterally within a network — is just 48 minutes, with the fastest time clocking in at a mere 51 seconds. In those critical moments, the last thing you want is your leadership team frozen in indecision, or worse, wasting time pointing fingers. Like any emergency response unit, your executive team must be ready to act swiftly and confidently in the event of an incident. That readiness hinges on having a clear plan — and especially, having practiced it. Enter executive tabletop exercises (TTXs).

The practice field for cross-functional executive response

TTXs are built on a simple but powerful premise: preparation drives performance. While technical teams routinely rehearse incident response protocols to meet regulatory requirements — such as those from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) — and routinely demonstrate cyber readiness to internal stakeholders, executive teams often lack the same opportunities. Yet, cyber incidents affect far more than IT. Legal, finance, communications, HR, and operations leaders all play vital roles in a coordinated response.

Just as elite teams prepare for high-stakes moments through practice, executive teams need rehearsal to build muscle memory and confidence. As acclaimed American golfer Sam Snead once said, “Practice puts brains in your muscles.” Building on that idea, TTXs give executive teams the space to refine protocols, strengthen decision-making, and ensure alignment between business and technical teams — all things you want before a real crisis hits.

Decision-tree branching scenarios enable realistic cyber response

TTX scenarios can cover a wide range of threats — ransomware, supply chain attacks, telecommuter compromise, business email compromise, nation-state and targeted attack compromise, web application exploitation, cloud services compromise, and more. Expert facilitators tailor realistic, plain language scenarios to your organization’s unique risk profile, ensuring relevance and engagement. By simulating real-world pressure, clarifying roles, and exposing gaps, TTXs build team readiness, coordination, and speed. Often, these exercises are supported by TTX tools like Cyber Crisis Sim by Immersive Labs.

Sample scenario:

At 9:00 am, your IT team discovers that several critical systems have been locked by ransomware. A ransom demand arrives, threatening to publicly release sensitive customer data unless payment is made within 48 hours.

First executive decision:

What is your first action?

1. Convene the incident response team and initiate the incident response plan.
2. Immediately notify law enforcement and regulators.
3. Pay the ransom to quickly restore operations.
4. Communicate with employees and customers about the incident.

With a skilled facilitator, executives discuss each option, weigh the risks, and vote on the next best course of action. Each choice leads to a new set of decisions and challenges, guiding the team through a branching scenario that mirrors real-world complexity.

Next decisions based on initial choice:

• If a (convene IR team) was chosen: Backups may be compromised. Who do you engage next, and what is your communication priority?
• If b (notify law enforcement/regulators) was chosen: How do you ensure timely, compliant communication while protecting your reputation?
• If c (pay the ransom) was chosen: What steps do you take to assess the risks, and who must approve this decision?
• If d (communicate externally) was chosen: Who approved the external message and which channels do you use?

At each stage, the facilitator prompts discussion around:

• Who needs to be involved at this stage?
• What risks are most urgent?
• What are the pros and cons of each approach?

Working through these questions in a TTX — rather than during a real crisis — creates an educational experience for cross-functional executive leadership that ensures your organization isn’t wasting precious response time figuring out roles, responsibilities, and next steps. Instead, your team is prepared to act swiftly, confidently, and in alignment with best practices.

A proactive, cost-effective approach managing cyber incidents

Beyond regulatory compliance and emergency muscle memory, TTXs deliver measurable value: faster response directly reduces incident and data breach costs. This year’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 from IBM and The Ponemon Institute provides compelling financial evidence in support of TTXs.

Statistic 1:

Organizations that detected and contained breaches in under 200 days saw average costs drop to $3.87M — a nearly 5% decrease from last year. In contrast, breaches that lingered over 200 days were the most expensive, averaging $5.01M.

TTX takeaway:

Speed is crucial in controlling breach costs. TTXs clarify roles, identify process gaps, and enable teams to act quickly and decisively to minimize financial impact.

Statistic 2:

Internal security teams detected 50% of breaches this year, up 8%. When organizations discovered breaches themselves, costs averaged $4.18M; when third parties or attackers disclosed the breach, costs jumped to $5.08M.

TTX takeaway:

Early detection by your own technical teams is vital. TTXs train staff to recognize and escalate incidents, increasing the likelihood your organization identifies breaches before attackers inform you — saving time, money, and reputation.

Statistic 3:

Nearly 9 out of 10 organizations experienced significant business and operational disruption after a data breach. For most, recovery was slow: only 2% restored operations in under 50 days, while 76% said they needed over 100 days to recover.

TTX takeaway:

Business disruption and prolonged recovery can be even more damaging than the breach itself. TTXs prepare teams to maintain critical operations and test recovery plans, helping organizations restore normalcy faster and reduce long-term impact.

If you’re considering TTXs, don’t overlook penetration testing too

Pen testing is a powerful complement to TTXs. While TTXs sharpen executives’ ability to make big-picture decisions in simulated scenarios, regular penetration testing gives technical teams hands-on experience defending against real-world attacks — without the high stakes. Even better, insights from pen testing can directly inform future TTX scenarios, tailored to your organization’s unique security posture, infrastructure, and industry context.

In the financial sector, Credit Human, a credit union serving over 200,000 members, significantly strengthened its cyber resilience by combining monthly penetration testing with annual TTXs. This integrated approach enabled Credit Human’s CISO, Joshua Light, to see firsthand how TTXs fostered tighter cross-department collaboration and brought greater clarity to roles, responsibilities, and escalation procedures at every level of the organization.

The time to get cyber prepared is before a crisis strikes

While the statistics alone in the Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 make a compelling case for TTXs, the report’s authors also offer direct advice that underscores their value. They write, “In-person or virtual training can be essential in helping security teams understand their roles and execute in a crisis. To enhance their ability to handle attacks, organizations can also participate in cyber range crisis simulation exercises.”

Stratascale, SHI’s cybersecurity services division, has certified facilitators ready to guide you in transforming how your organization responds to cyber risk. As a part of Stratascale’s Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Program, we can help you bridge the gap between technical execution and executive priorities, turning cybersecurity into a strategic asset — not just a regulatory requirement.

NEXT STEPS

Unsure how your cybersecurity policies would hold up in a live scenario? Concerned about how to handle a potential ransomware demand? Looking for a low-risk way to test your organization’s cyber readiness?

Connect with a cybersecurity expert from SHI to explore your options.