Intro to Tabletop Exercises (TTX)

In cyber security, prevention is only part of the equation—response and preparedness are just as critical. We at X41 D-Sec offer table-top exercises (TTX) to simulate real-world attack scenarios, test your organization’s security posture, and improve your incident response capabilities.

A table-top exercise is a structured discussion-based simulation where key stakeholders in your organization are walked through hypothetical attack scenarios by real penetration testers in a controlled environment. Unlike a penetration test with live exploitation, this exercise focuses on decision-making, communication, and response strategies within your organization.

Each TTX session is tailored to specific threats you could face, incorporating variations of the following:

  • Threat actors (e.g., nation-state hackers, insider threats, ransomware groups).
  • Attack scenario (e.g., phishing attack, supply chain compromise, zero-day exploitation).
  • Assets at risk (e.g., customer data, intellectual property, cloud infrastructure).

Our table-top exercises are carried out in the following steps:

1. Understand Your Environment

We start by meeting with your team and gathering information that is crucial to running a successful TTX. Your organization’s network architecture, security policies, and past incidents are reviewed and key employees are interviewed to understand their roles and responsibilities when dealing with a cyber attack.

2. Define the Scope and Objectives

We work with you to set clear goals for the TTX, whether it’s testing incident response, evaluating communication channels, or identifying security gaps to ensure alignment on the scope and limitations of the exercise.

3. Develop the Scenarios

We review the information gathered from the scoping stage and tailor realistic incident scenarios, such as a zero-day exploitation, data breach, phishing attack, or insider threat, incorporating relevant details like timeline, affected systems, and potential impact.

For example, a relevant scenario for you could be a rival company looking to steal intellectual property. They have successfully conducted a phishing attack to gain access to an employee’s laptop at your company. The laptop has an outdated version of Windows 10 and a relevant EDR solution. How would you detect and respond to this and protect your intellectual property?

3. Facilitate the Exercise

We guide your team through relevant scenarios, prompting discussions and decision-making. The goal is to encourage collaboration, challenge assumptions, and test response capabilities.

Your team is presented with simulated attacks, step by step, and discuss their response at each stage. This includes:

  • Detection: How would they identify this attack?
  • Response: What actions should each team take?
  • Containment: How do they prevent further damage?
  • Communication: How do they inform stakeholders, customers, or regulators?
  • Recovery: How do they restore operations and prevent recurrence?

This gives a cross-functional group of security professionals, IT teams, executives, and legal/compliance representatives in your organisation a chance to play their real-world role in responding to attacks.

4. Document and Report Findings

Throughout the exercise, we will uncover gaps in your organization’s security posture and take detailed notes on strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Afterward, we provide a comprehensive report with actionable recommendations.

We analyze:

  • Response times and decision-making effectiveness
  • Technical and procedural weaknesses
  • Breakdowns in communication or escalation processes

These key lessons learned allow you to update your:

  • Incident response playbooks
  • Security tools and monitoring capabilities
  • Employee awareness training
  • Communication protocols

5. Review and Debrief

The TTX is concluded with a post-exercise discussion, analyzing performance, addressing gaps, and refining your incident response strategies. This makes table-top exercises a proactive risk management activity that identifies security weaknesses before real-world attackers do. They also keep your team in practice so everyone knows their roles in a real attack scenario.