Cyber Awareness Simulation / Tabletop Exercise

Imagine finding out that the IT systems of your public administration have been hacked for ransomware and you have just 72 hours to pay the ransom. What sort of questions need to be answered and the decisions that your organization’s leadership need to consider immediately?

What do you tell the public?
How do you communicate with staff if your IP phones are down?
How and what do you communicate with elected leaders and staff?
Who do you contact from regional, national and EU agencies?
If you have cyber insurance, what is covered and what obligations are you required to take based on your policy?
What data backup and recovery systems do you have in place?
How do employees and vendors get paid during the system down time and recovery?
And many more…

The simulation provides a realistic real-time experience for selected actors from public administrations and a gripping event for viewers. The simulation goes through what REALLY happens with corresponding learning points / take-aways. The exact scenario to be simulated will remain a surprise to the actors.

Join us to learn more about how to:

Raise cybersecurity as a priority within your public administration and to expose these officials to realistic and time-sensitive experiences and decision making.
Provide a realistic experience for those involved to improve planning and response for a real incident.
Build a strong and unified understanding among key players so that, when a real attack occurs, everyone has a robust understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities.

A cyberattack or breach of a local government’s IT systems can have a devastating impact on its ability to function at all levels of operations and service delivery. Such an event would likely cripple business operations as well as lead to a loss of public confidence and support. Based on recent experiences with other local governments, a cyberattack is now considered a public emergency, requiring a thoughtful, legal, and coordinated governmentwide response. Cybersecurity continues to rank as the No. 1 priority for technology executives. Unfortunately, cybersecurity as a priority may not resonate within other executives and leadership within a local government. All too often cybersecurity is viewed as an IT “responsibility” versus an issue or priority that impacts every department and function of government operations and service delivery. To help local government officials outside of the IT organization develop a better understanding of what it is like to experience a cyberattack, MCE – I4C+ and CompTIA PTI are offering a virtual cyber tabletop exercise where the I4C+ and CompTIA team of experts staff and volunteer cyber executives from other local governments will take participants through a simulated cyberattack and make recommendations to improve the jurisdiction’s incident response.

The I4C+ and PTI Cyber Incident Team is comprised of staff and volunteers who are both knowledgeable in cyber governance and cyber best practices as promulgated by the European Agency for Cyber Security and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as well as the US MS-ISAC.

It’s a unique opportunity to think about your own cyberattack preparedness, don’t miss it. Book your agenda!