A cyber exercise is a simulated cyber incident designed to test how an organisation responds when systems, data, reputation, and regulatory obligations are under threat.

Unlike technical penetration testing or vulnerability scanning, a cyber exercise focuses on:

• decision-making under uncertainty

• coordination between leadership teams

• communication with stakeholders

• governance, compliance, and accountability

The exercise unfolds in real time, often over several hours, with new information emerging as the scenario escalates — just like a real cyber incident.

Executives often assume cyber exercises are technical drills. They are not.

Cyber Security Testing:

• Focuses on systems and vulnerabilities

• Conducted by IT or security teams

• Tests whether defences can be breached

• Technical outputs

Cyber Exercises:

• Focuses on people and decisions

• Involves executives and leadership

• Tests whether the organisation can respond

• Business, legal, reputational outcomes

A cyber exercise does not ask “Can we be hacked?”
It asks “What happens when we are?”

1: Because Cyber Incidents are Leadership Events

The most critical decisions in a cyber crisis are not technical:

• Do we shut systems down?

• When do we inform regulators?

• What do we tell customers and staff?

• Who has authority to approve key actions?

• How do we balance speed against accuracy?

These decisions sit squarely with executives — often in the first few hours.

Without rehearsal, leadership teams frequently:

• hesitate

• contradict each other

• delay critical disclosures

• escalate confusion rather than control

A cyber exercise exposes these issues safely, before they cause real damage.

2: Because Boards Are Personally Accountable

Regulators, insurers, and shareholders increasingly expect boards to demonstrate cyber resilience, not just cyber investment.

After a serious incident, questions typically include:

• Had the organisation practised its response?

• Were executives trained for cyber decision-making?

• Was governance clear and documented?

• Were legal and regulatory obligations understood?

A cyber exercise creates evidence that leadership has taken its responsibilities seriously — and identifies gaps before they are scrutinised publicly.

3. Becuase Cyber Failures Are Usually Organisational, Not Technical

In most cyber crises:

• alerts are detected

• technical teams act quickly

• containment plans exist

Yet incidents still escalate into full-scale crises due to:

• unclear decision authority

• poor cross-functional coordination

• delayed communication

• misunderstanding of regulatory timelines

Cyber exercises reveal these weaknesses clearly — and often uncomfortably — which is exactly their value.

A well-designed cyber exercise mirrors the pressure and complexity of a real incident.

Typical elements include:

• A realistic threat scenario (e.g. ransomware, data breach, supply-chain compromise)

• Evolving injects such as media reports, regulator enquiries, customer complaints, and internal leaks

• Multiple stakeholder pressures arriving simultaneously

• Time-critical decisions with incomplete information

Participants must act as they would in reality — not discuss hypotheticals, but make real decisions with real consequences inside the simulation.

A cyber exercise is not effective if it only involves IT.

For executives, the most valuable exercises include:

• CEO / Managing Director

• CFO

• General Counsel / Legal

• Communications / PR

• Operations / Business leaders

• IT & Security leadership

Cyber crises cut across the entire organisation. Exercises must reflect that reality.

1. Decision-Making Confidence

Executives practise making difficult calls under pressure — and understand the consequences of delay, misalignment, or over-control.

2. Role Clarity

Exercises quickly reveal:

• who is actually in charge

• where authority is unclear

• where assumptions conflict with reality

This clarity is invaluable in a real incident.

3. Improved Communication

Executives practise:

• communicating with regulators

• managing public and media scrutiny

• aligning internal messaging

These are skills that cannot be learned from policy documents alone.

4. Evidence of Preparedness

Post-exercise reports provide:

• documented findings

• improvement actions

• board-ready outputs

These support governance, insurance discussions, and regulatory confidence.

“Our IT team handles this.”
They handle the technical response — not executive accountability.

“We have an incident response plan.”
Plans are rarely tested under real pressure, with real people.

“We don’t want to scare the board.”
Boards are more exposed by not practising.

“We’ll deal with it if it happens.”
That approach is what turns incidents into crises.

Best practice organisations:

• run at least one executive-level cyber exercise per year

• rotate scenarios to reflect emerging threats

• involve different leadership groups over time

Cyber risk evolves constantly — preparedness must evolve with it.

Cyber resilience is not about preventing every attack. It is about:

• absorbing disruption

• maintaining critical operations

• protecting trust

• recovering decisively

Executives play a decisive role in all four.

Cyber exercises ensure leadership teams are not learning these lessons for the first time in the middle of a live incident.