How can we test our organisation’s cyber resilience?

Evaluating your organisation’s defences against cyber threats requires a strategic, multi-faceted approach. Modern testing methodologies provide comprehensive assessment of your security posture while identifying critical vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.

Testing Approach Key Benefits
Automated Security Validation Continuous assessment, broad coverage, scalability
Manual Penetration Testing In-depth analysis, creative attack vectors, expert insights
Tabletop Exercises Response readiness, procedural validation, teamwork improvement
Real-world Attack Simulations Realistic scenarios, comprehensive evaluation, detection testing

Cyber resilience represents an organisation’s ability to protect itself from, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber attacks. Testing this capability has become essential as threats grow increasingly sophisticated and regulations like NIS2, DORA, and UK CSRA demand documented security measures.

Traditional approaches to security testing often provide only point-in-time snapshots with limited scope. They typically rely on manual processes that can be time-consuming and difficult to scale across complex environments. Furthermore, they tend to focus reactively on known vulnerabilities rather than proactively simulating the latest attack techniques.

Modern automated cyber resilience testing platforms address these limitations by continuously validating security controls against real-world attack scenarios. Such testing helps organisations understand their true security posture from an attacker’s perspective while generating actionable insights for improvement.

What are the most effective methods for testing cyber resilience?

Several methodologies have proven particularly effective for evaluating organisational cyber resilience, each with distinct advantages depending on security maturity and specific objectives:

  • Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) – Automates real-world attack simulations across the entire kill chain without disrupting systems, leveraging current threat intelligence to mimic actual threat actor TTPs.
  • Penetration Testing – Delivers depth through security professionals who think like attackers, uncovering unexpected vulnerabilities, though typically providing only periodic security snapshots.
  • Tabletop Exercises – Focuses on the human element by walking teams through simulated incident scenarios, identifying gaps in response procedures without technical implementation.
  • Red Team Operations – Provides realistic assessment by simulating sustained attacks over time without prior knowledge from the tested team, evaluating both technical controls and organizational response.

Organizations with limited security maturity should start with vulnerability assessments and tabletop exercises before progressing to more sophisticated testing methods. Those with mature security programmes should consider integrated approaches combining automated testing with periodic expert-led exercises.

How often should you conduct cyber resilience testing?

The appropriate frequency for cyber resilience testing varies based on several key factors, including organisational size, industry requirements, and compliance mandates.

Testing Type Recommended Frequency
Automated Testing Continuously or at least monthly
Penetration Testing Annually or after significant infrastructure changes
Tabletop Exercises Quarterly
Red Team Exercises Annually for mature security programs

Triggers for additional testing include:

  • Significant changes to IT infrastructure or security controls
  • New threat intelligence relevant to your industry
  • After security incidents to validate remediation effectiveness
  • Following government/industry threat advisories specific to your sector

Organisations with limited resources should prioritise continuous validation of critical systems while implementing risk-based testing schedules for less sensitive assets.

What should you do with the results of a cyber resilience test?

The value of cyber resilience testing lies not in the assessment itself but in how effectively the results drive security improvements. A structured approach maximizes impact:

  1. Categorize vulnerabilities by severity, exploitability, and business impact
  2. Prioritize remediation based on risk assessment, focusing on misconfigurations and excessive privileges
  3. Develop remediation plans with clear ownership, timelines, and success criteria
  4. Implement verification testing to confirm successful resolution
  5. Communicate results appropriately to different stakeholders:
    • Technical teams: Detailed findings with specific remediation guidance
    • Executive leadership: Risk-based metrics demonstrating security posture improvements

Maintain a continuous improvement cycle by tracking key metrics across testing iterations to identify trends. Testing results should also inform broader security initiatives, including architecture updates, control validation improvements, and incident response refinements.

Key takeaways for improving your cyber resilience testing programme

Strengthening your organisation’s approach to cyber resilience testing requires a strategic focus on these essential elements:

  • Adopt a threat-informed defence approach using frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK
  • Implement complementary testing methodologies, combining automated tools with expert-led assessments
  • Establish risk-based testing schedules while remaining responsive to threat landscape changes
  • Create clear processes for translating findings into concrete security improvements
  • Focus on building a comprehensive view of security control effectiveness

Remember that cyber resilience testing is not a compliance checkbox but an ongoing process of security validation and improvement. The most effective programmes align testing activities with business priorities, regulatory requirements, and the evolving threat landscape to continuously strengthen defences against potential attacks. If you’re interested in learning more, contact our expert team today.