Before we get into the tabletop exercises, let us see what is meant by security incident and privacy incident.
Security incident: As an example, a security incident is when a system is hacked and hackers gain access to critical infrastructure within an organization.
Privacy incident: In a privacy incident, your personal information such as name, email address may fall into wrong hands and they might directly target you for mischievous things.
It is also when a company collects more data than they state in their security policy. For example, an organization may state that they will not collect your email address and location but they might collect it surreptitiously and maliciously use it too!
Tabletop exercises are more prevalent in the security domain than in the privacy domain. Tabletop exercises or TTX are more of role playing in figuring out who will do what, when a security or privacy incident occurs. If all the stakeholders are physically present, it will enable the TTX to be a bigger success as each stakeholder will know their responsibility in case of an incident. Tabletop exercises help prevent future attacks and breaches of a similar kind.
For example, in a security tabletop exercise, if there is a data breach, enacting all the actions that have to be performed following the breach by all the stakeholders ensures that everyone is well versed in their actions. This will ensure that future data breaches don’t occur. Tabletop exercises can take about 15 minutes to an hour to perform. If stakeholders are not able to join in physically then, an online call would also suffice to finish the exercise.
Similar to security table top exercise, privacy table top exercise can be performed as well. Privacy table top exercises can be performed according to each company’s business needs. It can also be done by looking at the previous privacy incidents. Most privacy incidents might involve unanticipated disclosure of personal information. Privacy TTX therefore can focus on role plays on what to do following such an incident with the corresponding stakeholders.
This will prevent future privacy incidents.
Advantages of a privacy table top exercise;
It reminds everyone about their roles and responsibilities following a privacy incident
It reminds the stakeholders about their actions following a privacy incident
It exposes the privacy vulnerabilities in a system
It helps to rectify the flaws in the system
And finally, it reduces privacy incidents for the future!
Instead of scrambling when a privacy incident occurs on what to do next, tabletop exercises ensure that there is smooth flow of action ensuring that the future is safe!
This post is for BlogchatterA2Z 2025!
Your post highlights the best practices that companies follow.
/It reminds everyone about their roles and responsibilities following a privacy incident/
This is crucial because lapses can occur when people change roles or quits Organization, processes become outdated, or associates misunderstand procedures.
Well written. All the best.
Thanks for reading Pandian…
I just read your post on the privacy tabletop exercise, and it really got me thinking about how crucial these simulations are. The way you outlined the step-by-step process made it feel approachable, even for someone not deeply versed in privacy protocols. I appreciated how you emphasized the importance of cross-departmental collaboration; it’s a reminder that privacy isn’t just an IT issue but a company-wide responsibility. The scenario you presented was realistic and highlighted potential blind spots that organizations might overlook. Your insights on post-exercise evaluations were particularly helpful, showing how continuous improvement is key. It’s evident that you’ve put a lot of thought into making this a practical guide. This post has inspired me to advocate for a similar exercise in my own organization. Thanks for sharing such valuable information in an accessible way!
Thanks Romila…your comments are just wonderful and are a blogger’s boost! 🙂