Have you taken a look at our monthly compilations of cyber attacks, data breaches and ransomware attacks from 2024? If you so much as glance through them, you’ll know exactly how daunting the evolution of the cyber threat landscape has been in the past year. Cyber security should be a top priority for businesses of all sizes in 2025. And Cyber Drills are a critical tool in building robust cyber defences.
A well-planned cyber drill—also referred to as a cyber attack drill, cyber security drill, or cyber drill exercise—is more than a simple checkbox; it’s a strategic imperative. In this article, we explore the top five compelling reasons why you should run a cyber drill in 2025.
Your cyber incident response plan is only as good as its last test. Conducting a cyber security drill helps test the effectiveness of your plan. It also validates your team’s response procedures and capabilities in real-time. By simulating a realistic cyber security drill scenario, you can:
Regularly practising a cyber attack drill ensures that when a real incident occurs, your team reacts promptly and effectively.
Data breaches and ransomware attacks can cost organisations millions in damages and legal fees, not to mention loss of customer trust. A cyber drill exercise can help your organisation:
Research indicates that the sooner an organisation can detect and contain a breach, the lower the overall financial impact. Running frequent cyber security drills can be the difference between a quick resolution and a brand-damaging headline.
With evolving regulations—from GDPR in Europe to CCPA in California—governments worldwide are setting stricter guidelines for data handling and breach notifications. In fact, the EU DORA that comes into force this January, specifically calls for regular Digital Operation Testing for ensuring business continuity of financial entitis. Scenario-based testing is one of the mandates of DORA.
Implementing a cyber security drill aligns with regulatory best practices by:
Regulators and auditing bodies increasingly look for proof that organisations can detect, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents swiftly. Many now specifically mandate scenario-based testing to demonstrate a commitment to cybersecurity. A robust cyber drill showcases your compliance apart from actually making your cybersecurity posture stronger.
People are your first line of defence. A cyber security drill should involve a diverse set of participants. At CM-Alliance, we always recommend involving HR, legal, operations, Corporate Communications and PR in your cyber drill exercises. We also have three separate Cyber Drills, each targeted at different participant groups for a more in-depth exercise. These include the Executive Cyber Drill, Technical Cyber Drill and Operational Cyber Drill.
In essence, employees at all levels must be involved in cyber drills to heighten their awareness and accountability. By including phishing simulations, tabletop exercises, and in-depth training, staff not only becomes more aware of their individual roles and responsibilities. There’s also better inter-departmental collaboration in the event of an attack.
Cyber Drills promote a sense of shared responsibility for cyber resilience which is critical in the era of remote work and cloud reliance.
Cybercriminals are constantly innovating with new tactics, from AI-driven attacks to sophisticated phishing campaigns. You can study past cyber attack timelines and build your cyber drill scenarios based on emerging tactics.
Such cyber drill exercise examples can be found in our comprehensive Cyber Tabletop Exercise Scenarios document. By leveraging these as well as your own understanding of your current threat context, you can ensure your security measures and processes keep pace with the latest attack vectors.
Using relevant cyber drill scenarios create a compelling simulated attack situation. They bring out realistic responses from your team. They also uncover hidden weak points in newly adopted technologies or services, enabling quick adjustments to security policies and defensive tools.
In a rapidly shifting digital environment, staying agile is critical. A cyber security drill example that simulates real-world attack scenarios will reveal how quickly your organisation can adapt to modern threats. And you can work to plug the gaps that become apparent through a well-crafted cyber security drill.
As cyber threats continue to escalate, running a cyber drill in 2025 isn’t just a recommendation—it’s a necessity. Whether you’re looking to mitigate financial risk, maintain regulatory compliance, or build a cyber-savvy team, a cyber security drill is a powerful tool to keep you one step ahead of ever-evolving cyber threats.
Cyber Management Alliance is the world leader in planning, designing and executing comprehensive cyber security drills. Our world-leading practitioners have planned, produced and conducted 400+ bespoke scenario-based cyber drills for clients across industries and geographies. We tailor each cyber security drill to your specific industry and risk profile, maximising relevance and ROI.
Each cyber drill integrates incident response tabletop walkthroughs with hands-on, practical templates, ensuring maximum engagement and relevant insights. Participants benefit from a highly interactive format that highlights real-world vulnerabilities. After every exercise, we deliver a comprehensive report featuring an accessible maturity scoring system, allowing you to pinpoint areas of improvement and chart a clear path to bolstered cyber defences.
We offer three different types of Cyber Drills - Executive Cyber Drills, Technical Cyber Drills and Operational Cyber Drills. If you're specifically looking to engage the Senior Management, we provide tailored Awareness Sessions for Executives. Cyber Management Alliance’s Executive Briefing and Awareness Sessions are specifically crafted for executive management, CEOs, and board members. These brief sessions immerse them in a business context to clarify the threats and risks posed by cyber-attacks. They offer straightforward, tactical, and strategic measures to enhance cybersecurity leadership against reputation-damaging cyber crises.
To know more about how we have helped clients to bolster their cyber defences with our tailored cyber drills, do check out this case study on how Waverton Investment Management boosted its cybersecurity leadership with Cyber Management Alliance.