Cyber Tabletop Exercise Guidebook

Tabletop exercises have been part of the capacity-building landscape for cybersecurity for years now. Their popularity is easy to see – they bring together different people and tackle real-life scenarios.

And while every tabletop exercise with its scenarios is tailored to the specific audience and issue, many general principles should be followed when putting together a TTX that are now systematically presented in the guidebook.

The guidebook is based on practical know-how and experiences in organizing cybersecurity tabletop exercises.

The guidebook provides a comprehensive overview of the lifecycle of creating tabletop exercises, from planning and preparation to execution and evaluation. Additionally, the authors have included practical tips and common pitfalls that can be avoided.

For a successful TTX, designing the exercise around real threats and documenting in real time are crucial among other principles. For common pitfalls, the authors highlight, for example, the need for shifting the mindset from treating the TTX as a performance review to a mentality of “We succeed together by identifying and fixing what doesn’t work.”