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What is a Tabletop Exercise? Complete Guide for Cybersecurity Teams 2025

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What is a Tabletop Exercise? Complete Guide for Cybersecurity Teams 2025

Learn what tabletop exercises are, why they matter for cybersecurity, and how to use them to test incident response plans. Comprehensive guide covering types, benefits, best practices, and real-world examples.

January 8, 2025

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12 min read

Breakpoint Team

Security Expert & Consultant

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Latest Articles

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Best Practices

Traditional Tabletop Exercises Are Dead (Here's What Replaced Them)

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Why Run Tabletop Exercises Quarterly (Not Annually)

Organizations running quarterly tabletop exercises detect incidents 40% faster. Learn why quarterly beats annual for incident response training excellence.

CISA Tabletop Exercise Guide - Follow CISA Proven Methodology 2025

Complete guide to CISA's HSEEP methodology for critical infrastructure protection. Learn the 5 exercise types, 8-step planning process, and sector-specific guidance for all 16 critical infrastructure sectors.

Ransomware Response Best Practices 2025

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Incident Response Best Practices

Master the 5-phase incident response framework. Learn detection, analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery strategies that security teams actually use in production.

How to Conduct an Incident Response Tabletop Exercise

Step-by-step guide to planning and running effective tabletop exercises. Learn preparation, scenario design, facilitation techniques, and post-exercise evaluation.

NIST Incident Response Framework Guide

Complete guide to NIST SP 800-61r2 incident response framework. Learn the 4 phases, key metrics (MTTD, MTTA, MTTC, MTTR), and implementation strategies.

How to Run a Ransomware Tabletop Exercise

Learn how to design and facilitate ransomware-specific tabletop exercises. Includes 90-minute timeline, ransom payment decision framework, and recovery procedures.

Creating Effective Tabletop Exercise Scenarios

Master scenario design with the Goldilocks Principle. Learn the 5-layer model, inject techniques, and realism vs. training balance for impactful exercises.

How to Test Your Incident Response Plan

The IR Testing Pyramid: 5 testing methods from documentation review to full-scale exercises. Includes annual testing calendar and success metrics.

GDPR Breach Response Requirements

Complete guide to GDPR Article 33 breach notification requirements. Learn the 72-hour timeline, €20M penalties, breach register requirements, and compliance strategies.

ISO 27001 Incident Response Requirements

ISO 27001:2022 Annex A.16 controls explained. Learn the 7 incident management controls, evidence collection, audit preparation, and certification requirements.

Tabletop Exercise vs Cyber Range

Side-by-side comparison of tabletop exercises and cyber ranges. Learn cost analysis ($0-5K vs $50K+), use cases, and when to use each training method.

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