Tabletop Exercises
Practice before it's real.
Practice your incident response.
Testing Options
Prepare your team for real incidents through facilitated tabletop exercises. We create realistic scenarios based on current threats to test your incident response procedures, identify gaps in your playbooks, and improve team coordination under pressure.
Ransomware Response
Walk through a ransomware attack scenario from initial detection through recovery and post-incident activities.
Data Breach Response
Practice responding to unauthorized data access, including notification requirements and regulatory response.
Insider Threat Scenario
Test response to malicious or negligent insider actions, including investigation and containment.
Business Email Compromise
Respond to executive impersonation and payment fraud scenarios targeting finance teams.
Supply Chain Attack
Practice responding when a trusted vendor or software is compromised, affecting your environment.
How We Work
Our tabletop exercises create realistic pressure without real consequences. We facilitate discussion, inject complications, and help your team discover gaps before an actual incident reveals them.
Scenario Development
We design scenarios based on your industry, threat landscape, and specific areas you want to test.
Pre-Exercise Briefing
We orient participants, establish ground rules, and ensure everyone understands the exercise format.
Facilitated Exercise
We walk through the scenario with timed injects, challenging decisions, and realistic complications.
Hot Wash
Immediately after, we facilitate discussion on what worked, what didn't, and initial improvement ideas.
After Action Report
We document findings, gaps, and specific recommendations to improve incident response capabilities.
What You Get
Tabletop exercises are only valuable if they drive improvement. Our deliverables ensure lessons learned become lessons applied.
Custom Scenario Package
Fully developed scenario with injects, decision points, and facilitator guide—reusable for future exercises.
After Action Report
Detailed documentation of exercise observations, participant decisions, and identified gaps.
Gap Analysis
Specific identification of playbook gaps, communication breakdowns, and unclear responsibilities.
Improvement Recommendations
Prioritized recommendations to address identified gaps, with suggested timeline and ownership.
Playbook Updates
Optional: We can update your incident response playbooks based on exercise findings.
Compliance Documentation
Evidence package documenting exercise completion for NIST, ISO, SOC 2, and other framework requirements.
Why Breach Craft for Tabletop Exercises
Real-World Scenarios
Our scenarios are based on actual incidents we've seen and current threat intelligence—not generic templates.
Experienced Facilitators
We've led incident response in real breaches. We know what pressure feels like and how to recreate it constructively.
Cross-Functional Engagement
We design exercises that involve IT, legal, communications, and executive leadership—because real incidents do too.
Safe Learning Environment
Tabletops are about learning, not blame. We create psychological safety that encourages honest participation.
Actionable Outcomes
Every exercise produces specific, implementable recommendations—not vague suggestions to 'improve communication.'
Common Questions
Who should participate in a tabletop exercise?
Ideally, everyone involved in incident response: IT security, IT operations, legal, HR, communications, and executive leadership. Even if they can't all attend, include representatives from each function. The goal is testing coordination, not just technical response.
How long does a tabletop exercise take?
Most exercises run 2-4 hours including the hot wash. Complex scenarios with multiple phases may take a full day. We recommend blocking more time than you think you'll need—good discussions often run long.
What if we don't have incident response playbooks?
That's valuable information. The exercise will reveal what decisions need to be made and who should make them—giving you a foundation to build playbooks. We can also help develop playbooks before or after the exercise.
How realistic are the scenarios?
Very. We use current threat intelligence and tailor scenarios to your industry. For healthcare, we might simulate ransomware affecting clinical systems. For finance, business email compromise targeting wire transfers. The scenarios feel real because they're based on real attacks.
How often should we run tabletop exercises?
At minimum, annually—many compliance frameworks require this. We recommend semi-annually, with different scenarios each time. After major organizational changes or new threats, run an exercise to test your updated response.
Ready to Strengthen Your Defenses?
Schedule a free consultation with our security experts to discuss your organization's needs.
Or call us directly at (445) 273-2873