Tabletop Exercise Design

Tabletop Exercises (TTX) rigorously test Incident Response plans in a risk-free environment. They familiarize teams with their roles and uncover gaps in procedures before a real crisis occurs.

Understanding Tabletop Exercises

A tabletop is a facilitated discussion where participants walk through a hypothetical scenario. The goal is to validate processes, identify communication breakdowns, practice decision-making, and improve team coordination. It is not a technical hands-on lab, but a process simulation.

Exercise Design

1. Define Objectives
Clarify what the exercise aims to test. Are you validating the communication flow? Testing the handover between shifts? Verifying decision authority for system shutdowns?

2. Develop the Scenario
A good scenario is realistic and relevant. It typically builds over time. For example, a ransomware scenario might start with user reports of slow systems, escalate to encrypted files, reveal a ransom note, and finally involve media leaks.

3. Prepare Injects
Injects are new information introduced during the exercise to force reactions. They simulate the unfolding fog of war. Injects can add complications, such as key staff being unreachable or backups failing, to test resilience.

4. Create the Facilitator Guide
The facilitator guides the discussion. The guide outlines the timeline, the injects, the expected questions, and the discussion points for each phase.

Conducting the Exercise

Exercises typically last 2 to 4 hours. The environment should be blameless; the focus is on learning, not evaluating individual performance. The facilitator ensures all voices are heard and the team stays focused on the process.

After Action Report

The output of the exercise is the After Action Report. It documents observations, highlights what worked well, and most importantly, lists the identified gaps with assigned corrective actions.