Cybersecurity programs must be tested on a routine basis. It takes significant time and effort to develop a cybersecurity program. The efficacy of a program is only theoretical until thorough testing is conducted. One of the most effective ways to test a program is by conducting tabletop exercises. Such testing can be conducted at any stage of program development, either to measure an adaptive program’s efficacy in responding to various scenarios, or to assist a nascent program in the identification of gaps in need of attention.
Is your organization truly prepared for a cyberattack or breach? Simply having a cybersecurity incident response plan is not sufficient to protect an organization. Industry experts strongly recommend running a tabletop cybersecurity exercise at least once per year. Practice makes perfect, and the result is often a more resilient response when it matters most — during an actual event.
Tabletop exercises offer maximum value when the scenario is specifically tailored to an organization’s unique characteristics including threat vectors, industry, data, assets, and culture.
Lockhaven Solutions
The goal of a cybersecurity tabletop exercise is to evaluate your cybersecurity program, including responsible team members’ reactions to simulated real-world scenarios. Tabletop exercises offer maximum value when the scenario is specifically tailored to an organization’s unique characteristics including threat vectors, industry, data, assets, and culture.
Training received during tabletop exercises will enable teams to act more efficiently during real events. Tabletop exercises also demonstrate the necessary cooperation and communication with key people across departments within the organization; these are emphatically not siloed IT exercises. The bottom line is that cyberattacks and breaches can be incredibly stressful events and untested individuals and teams are a risk. It is essential to have the practiced ability to take appropriate steps, restore functions promptly, and minimize potential damage.
Dr. Jack Dever J.D., LL.M., S.J.D. is the CEO of Lockhaven Solutions.
Jack served as FBI Assistant General Counsel. In this role he advised on cyber operations against nation state actors and global Tier 1 operations against Al Qaeda and affiliate organizations. He was an Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). In this capacity he worked on a wide array of cases, including foreign cyber espionage and data exfiltration. Jack served on active duty in the US Army as a Judge Advocate. He deployed multiple times to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and the Horn of Africa. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart Medals.
After leaving government service, Jack was an Executive at General Electric where he served as Global Crisis Management Leader. In this role, he developed the Business Intelligence Unit which investigated cyber fraud and financial crime. Jack went on to several enterprise risk leadership roles at several of the world’s largest banks, including GE Capital, Wells Fargo, and UBS.
Jack holds a doctorate in Cyber Law. He has lectured extensively at universities, law schools and private institutions. He is Co-Director at the Center for National Security and Human Rights Law in Chicago and has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on Cyber Law, Banking Law, and National Security Law.
He remains active in support of Disabled Veterans and underserved communities.
James Álvaro Dever, Esq.is a Principal at Lockhaven Solutions.
James was a US Air Force Professor of Cyber Warfare. He taught Cyber Law, Intelligence Law, National Security Law, Privacy Law, and Space Law at the Air War College (AWC), Air Force Cyber College (AFCC), Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School (JAG School), Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), and Air Force Research Lab Information Directorate (AFRL), the nation’s premier research organization for Computers and Intelligence. In partnership with AFCC and National Security Agency (NSA) Cryptologic School colleagues, he designed new graduate degree programs in Cyber Strategy for senior military officers and Department of Defense (DoD) civilians. He has provided cyber education to senior government officials and private sector leaders from South America, Central America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia.
He served as a US Army Judge Advocate. He was the Cyber Warfare Judge Advocate at Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) where he provided real-time legal advice on worldwide cyber offensive, cyber defensive, and DoD information network missions. He was Chair of the Law Department at the US Army Intelligence School. He taught Cyber Law, Intelligence Law, and National Security Law to DoD military personnel and civilians. He taught Advanced Source Operations at the HUMINT Training Joint Center of Excellence (HTJCOE), served as a Cyber Law Judge Advocate at the US Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM), and was a Cyber Law liaison to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM).
Prior to the Army, he worked at Deloitte Cyber Risk Services. At Deloitte, he partnered with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and helped create the Trusted Identities in Cyberspace and Privacy Engineering programs. He facilitated cybersecurity risk management for Fortune 100 companies.
He has published peer-reviewed law articles and book chapters on Cyber Law, Privacy Law, and National Security Law. He has lectured about enterprise cyber risk management at diverse venues including the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, the American Bar Association, NYU School of Law, the US Air Force Academy, and NATO Allied Command. He has taught extensively at universities and law schools. He is Advisory Director at the Center for National Security and Human Rights Law in Chicago and Co-Director, Cyber Risk Management for Executives Program. He is on the Board of Directors at the Journal of Law & Cyber Warfare.
