In today’s threat landscape, the CIO is the key player in leading cyber war games and tabletop exercises that strengthen organizational resilience and drive strategic advantage.
CIOs must lead cyber war games and tabletop exercises to test readiness, engage stakeholders, and drive continuous resilience.
Cybersecurity is no longer a back-office function. Today, it's a boardroom imperative. And at the center of this shift is the CIO. This post explores why CIOs must not only support but actively lead cyber war games and tabletop exercises. These aren’t routine drills. They are strategic operations that test the strength of your entire business under pressure. By owning these exercises, CIOs can move the enterprise from reactive to resilient. Let’s explore how.
Commanding the Digital Battlefield
Why CIOs Must Lead Cyber Simulations
Let’s be blunt: if you're not testing your cyber defenses, you're trusting luck. In the world of relentless threats, complacency isn't just dangerous—it's reckless.
Too many organizations still treat cyber war games as a compliance checkbox. Run one. File a report. Move on. That’s not how attackers think. And it sure isn't how resilient businesses win.
This is where the CIO steps in—not as a technical sidekick, but as a commander of cross-functional strategy. War games and tabletop exercises expose gaps in your people, processes, and systems. They reveal how your organization reacts under pressure.
The truth? These exercises can either be a waste of time or a turning point. The difference is leadership.
Getting to the Helm
From Tech Leader to Tactical Commander
A strong CIO doesn't just fix broken systems. They prevent chaos before it starts.
Cyber war games need a strategist at the helm—someone who understands both the tech and the business. That’s why the CIO’s role is central. They know which systems are critical. They know who needs to be in the room. They know what "business impact" really means.
Here’s how CIOs can take the lead:
· Set a clear objective. What are you testing? Is it detection time? Decision-making? Communications? Choose one focus per exercise.
· Define who plays. Pull in the right mix: IT, security, legal, comms, HR, and senior execs. Get buy-in at the top.
· Own the budget. Don’t treat this as an expense. Treat it as risk reduction.
· Schedule it. Put war games on the calendar, not on the wish list.
This is your moment to move from operator to orchestrator.
Mapping the Battlefield
Aligning Threats with Business Priorities
Not all threats are equal. Ransomware targeting your finance team isn't the same as a DDoS on your public API. Cyber exercises need to mirror real threats that keep your board up at night.
How to shape the right scenario:
· Use real threat intel. Pull from actual attack patterns, breach reports, and industry trends.
· Make it hurt. Design scenarios around crown-jewel systems: ERP, cloud infrastructure, customer data.
· Include emerging threats. Think supply chain attacks, AI-powered phishing, deepfakes.
Don’t dumb it down. Make it real. These exercises should challenge not just the security team but the entire leadership chain. When the heat is on, do people freeze, fumble, or fight back?
Building Your Cyber Army
Mobilizing Red Teams, Blue Teams, and Beyond
Cyber defense isn't a solo act. It's a team sport. The CIO must rally the troops—technical, legal, operational, and human.
Here’s the lineup:
· Red Team: Simulates attackers. Uses real-world tools. Disrupts systems and tests defenses.
· Blue Team: The defenders. They detect, respond, and contain.
· White Team: Observes and keeps the game moving.
· Executive Team: Makes judgment calls. Communicates. Manages stakeholders.
CIOs must ensure everyone knows their role. War games often fail because people are confused, unprepared, or siloed. Get everyone briefed. Run practice rounds. Make the exercise feel like game day.
Include:
· Board members need to understand risk.
· Legal to navigate data breach laws.
· PR to manage reputational fallout.
This isn’t just a tech drill. It’s business continuity in motion.
Executing the Campaign
Hands-On, Minds-On
It’s game time. The pressure is on. Phones are ringing. Systems are down. Stakeholders are panicked. What now?
The CIO must keep it real and keep it moving.
Best practices for a successful run:
· Time it. Keep it under 3-4 hours. Focused time breeds sharper insights.
· Introduce twists. Mid-game surprises simulate real-world unpredictability.
· Observe behavior. Are leaders communicating clearly? Is data being shared? Are decisions delayed?
Every response in the exercise is a preview of how things will go during a real attack. This is where you see gaps in action: slow escalation, unclear ownership, missing logs, poor coordination.
It’s better to expose weakness here than during a real breach.
Decoding the After-Action Report
From Slides to Strategy
Most exercises die in the debrief. They wrap with a vague sense of progress and zero accountability.
Not on your watch.
The CIO must lead a tight debrief:
· List wins and gaps. Celebrate what worked. But don’t sugarcoat what didn’t.
· Rank risks. What’s urgent? What’s systemic?
· Assign owners. Make sure fixes have names, dates, and budgets.
· Share results. Report findings to the C-suite and board.
Turn the debrief into a roadmap. This is where strategy takes shape.
Pro tip: track post-exercise improvements. Run the same scenario six months later and measure growth. Now you’re building a culture of accountability.
Scaling Up
Continuous Improvement and Culture Shift
One-and-done doesn’t cut it. Real resilience comes from repetition.
CIOs must institutionalize exercises:
· Quarterly war games for critical functions.
· Annual full-scale simulations for execs.
· Tabletop scenarios in onboarding.
· Vendor war games for supply chain risk.
And here’s where it gets powerful:
· Share stories. Publish anonymized reports.
· Celebrate fast response and clear thinking.
· Tie cyber readiness to performance reviews.
· You’re not just leading IT. You’re shaping culture.
Let’s not pretend anymore.
Cyber war games aren’t about nerds in a basement typing commands. They’re boardroom simulations that test the heart of your organization.
The CIO is the right leader to drive these exercises. Why? Because you understand the tech and the business. You see the big picture. You know the stakes.
So, take the reins. Run smarter war games. Debrief harder. Follow through relentlessly.
And then share your story. Let your peers see what real leadership looks like in the digital age.
Are you running cyber war games? How often? What’s worked? What flopped? Drop a comment. Let’s learn from each other and build a more resilient industry together.