Using Tabletops to Build Better Incident Responders and Achieve Robust Cybersecurity

Any company's cybersecurity program must include incident response as it helps to recover from cyber attacks and prevent them from happening again. However, you need conclusive evidence that your incident response plan is effective and robust enough to combat today’s more advanced cyber attacks.

This is why you need to implement tabletop exercise.

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What is a Tabletop Exercise?

According to NIST, tabletop exercise is a discussion-based exercise where personnel with roles and responsibilities in a particular IT plan meet to validate the content of the plan by discussing their roles during an emergency and their responses to a particular emergency situation.

Tabletop exercises give organizations the chance to test out and improve their incident response plans. The purpose of conducting tabletop exercise in the organization is to understand the support team's roles and duties, response priorities, order of events, communication needs, and to learn how to verify procedures, assess what is lacking from plans, and respond to diverse scenarios.

Why Does an Organization Need a Tabletop Exercise?

Tabletop exercise is essential to build better incident responders. By simulating various scenarios, the IR team can test their coordination, communication, and capacity to make wise decisions under pressure better. By conducting tabletop exercise, organizations can:

• Improving incident response plan so it can handle any real-world situation
• Enhancing team communication so that information is being communicated effectively
• Building confidence in the team's ability to handle incidents

How to Conduct a Tabletop Exercise?

1. Define the Objective. You must decide what you hope to accomplish with the practice.

2. Identify the Scenario. The scenario ought to be based on an actual event that might have an effect on your organization.

3. Create the Script. It should be flexible enough to allow for improvisation while being sufficiently detailed to create a realistic reproduction of the situation.

4. Assign Roles. Each participant taking part in the activity needs to be given a certain role to play. Each role ought to have a distinct set of duties that fit with the incident response plan.

5. Conduct the Exercise. The exercise should be controlled enough to guarantee that it doesn’t actually cause any damage while being realistic enough.

6. Debrief and Evaluate. This entails determining any gaps or weak points in your incident response plan as well as any areas where your team excelled.

5 Incident Response Tabletop Scenarios Your Organization Can Use

These 5 incident response tabletop scenarios can be used to test your security team’s ability and identify gaps for improvement!

1. Malware Infection

Network gets infected with malware and to stop the infection, the team must find its source and get the systems back to normal operation.

2. Insider Threat

An employee intentionally leaks data, and the team must act immediately to recognize the threat, minimize damage, and stop any future data leakage.

3. Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attack

A DoS attack targets the company's website and the team needs to identify the attack to reduce its damage and restore the affected systems.

4. Physical Security Breach

This scenario involves a physical security breach and the team needs to detect the breach, secure the affected areas, and, if necessary, work with law enforcement.

5. Social Engineering Attack

Social engineering is used to deceive employees into disclosing data or clicking on malicious links. The team must quickly identify the attack, lessen its impact, and educate employees on how to recognize and prevent similar attacks.

In conclusion, tabletop incident response exercises highlight the importance of having a clear IR plan. Organizations may lessen the effects of cyber attacks and preserve their reputation and client trust by simulating IR scenarios and continuously updating the IR plan. Join our Cybersecurity (https://academy.multimatics.co.id/) classes to learn enhance your ability and knowledge in cybersecurity field!

References

Mukherjee, A. (2023). Boost Your Incident Response Plan with Tabletop Exercises. https://www.threatintelligence.com/blog/incident-response-tabletop-exercises

Wlosinski, L. G. (2022). Cybersecurity Incident Response Exercise Guidance. ISACA. https://www.isaca.org/resources/isaca-journal/issues/2022/volume-1/cybersecurity-incident-response-exercise-guidance

ZCySec, T. (2023, March 21). How To Conduct Cyber Incident Response Tabletop Exercises. Z Cybersecurity. https://zcybersecurity.com/how-to-conduct-incident-response-tabletop-exercises/