SCYTHE 5.1 Released  Read More
     

     

    Cybersecurity Exercises

    Know exactly what your team would do when the scenario branches the wrong way.

    Three exercise formats — Tabletop, Purple Team, and Hybrid — each built around the threat actors targeting your sector right now, not a generic playbook.

    3 formats

    TTX · PTE · Hybrid — matched to your maturity

     

    <1 day

    Scenario customization to exercise-ready

     

    100%

    Threat-informed — real TTPs, real adversaries

    THE PROBLEM

    Exercises that don't reflect real attacks teach teams the wrong lessons.

    Most tabletop exercises use generic scenarios, dated playbooks, and facilitators who have never operated in a real incident. Most purple team engagements test single techniques in isolation. Neither prepares you for how real adversaries actually operate.

     
    Plans written but never stress-tested
    IR playbooks, escalation paths, and communication trees that look complete on paper but fall apart when the scenario branches unexpectedly.
    IR gaps Untested playbooks
     
    Red and blue teams operating in silos
    Red team findings never make it into detection rules. Blue teams never see what the adversary actually looked like in their environment.
    Siloed teams Lost findings
     
    Generic scenarios, not real threats
    Exercises built around fictional adversaries miss the specific TTPs of the threat actors actually targeting your sector right now.
    Non-specific No sector context
     
    Findings that don’t drive change
    An exercise report filed in a shared drive. No prioritization, no ownership, no re-test to confirm gaps actually close.
    No follow-through Stale findings

    THREE Exercise Formats

    Matched to where you are and what you need to prove.

    Each format is designed for a different maturity level and objective — from building foundational IR muscle memory to closing specific detection gaps with live emulation.

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    Format 01
    Tabletop Exercise
    TTX — discussion-based
    Stress-test IR plans, escalation paths, and cross-functional coordination through structured, scenario-driven discussion with branching injects.
    Best for
    Security leadership, IR leads, legal, comms, and executive stakeholders who need shared decision-making practice under pressure.
    IR planning Cross-team alignment Branching scenarios
    Most Requested
    Format 02
    Purple Team Exercise
    PTE — live emulation + detection
    Red and blue operate together with real-time visibility into adversary actions and the telemetry they generate — accelerating detection engineering in a single session.
    Best for
    Detection engineers and SOC leads who need to answer: “When an adversary runs real TTPs in our environment, do our controls fire?”
    Live TTP emulation Detection gap ID Rule development
    Most Recommended
    Format 03
    Hybrid Exercise
    TTX + PTE — full-spectrum
    Combines leadership discussion with live technical emulation — aligning strategic decision-making and defensive validation in one structured engagement.
    Best for
    Most organizations. This format drives both C-suite alignment and technical detection validation from a single engagement without scheduling two separate exercises.
    Full-spectrum Leadership + SOC Strategic + technical

    HOW every exercise runs

    From threat brief to findings in four phases.

    Applied consistently to every format — TTX, PTE, and Hybrid.
     
    01
    Scoping & threat alignment
    We map your industry’s real threat actors to exercise scenarios. Whoever is actively targeting your sector shapes the scenario.
    02
    Scenario development
    Custom scenario built around your environment, crown jewels, regulatory context, and the specific gaps you need to test.
    03
    Facilitated execution
    Practitioner-led with real-time branching. For PTEs: live emulation with telemetry visible to red and blue simultaneously.
    04
    Findings & remediation plan
    Prioritized gap report with ownership and remediation timelines. Optional re-test to validate fixes are actually closed.

    before and after scythe exercise

    What changes when exercises are built on real adversarial intelligence.

    The headline and subheader tells us what you're offering, and the form header closes the deal. Over here you can explain why your offer is so great it's worth filling out a form for.

    Without threat-informed exercises
    With SCYTHE exercises
    ✕
    Generic “ransomware hits payroll” scenario. Team follows script. Nobody learns anything new.
    ✓
    Scenario built from real TTPs targeting your exact sector and crown jewels.
    ✕
    IR playbook tested for the first time during an actual incident.
    ✓
    IR plan stress-tested with branching injects before an incident forces the real test.
    ✕
    Red team findings emailed to blue team. Detection rules never updated.
    ✓
    Red and blue operate together. Detection rules updated in the same session.
    ✕
    Board asks: “Are we prepared?” Answer: “We think so.”
    ✓
    Board gets measurable ATT&CK coverage improvement and detection gap closure rates.
    ✕
    Exercise report filed. No follow-up. Same gaps found a year later.
    ✓
    Findings prioritized, owned, and re-validated. Gaps actually close.

    what every exercise delivers

    Every engagement closes with evidence, not just impressions.

    Detailed findings report
    Prioritized gaps, ownership assignments, and remediation guidance formatted for both CISO presentation and engineering action.
    ATT&CK gap mapping
    For PTEs: a before/after ATT&CK heatmap showing exactly which techniques were detected and which were missed.
    Playbook enhancements
    Specific, actionable updates to IR playbooks, escalation paths, and detection rules — not generic best-practice recommendations.
    Facilitated debrief
    Led by the practitioner who ran the exercise — not handed off to a report-writer who wasn’t in the room.
    Optional re-test
    Return engagement to validate identified gaps were actually remediated — not just logged in a ticket.
    Executive summary
    Board-ready summary tying exercise findings to business risk — not just technical metrics.
    “SCYTHE’s precision in adversarial emulation empowers our red team to simulate real-world threats efficiently, providing actionable insights and focus, while also enabling our blue team to rapidly test and validate security controls.”
    Fortune 100 Insurance Company

    who users scythe exercises

    Designed for the people who get called forst when something does wrong.

    TTX · Hybrid
    CISO / security leadership
    Need to answer “are we prepared?” with measured evidence — not consultant opinions or assumptions.
    PTE
    Detection engineers / SOC leads
    Need to know which controls fire against real TTPs — with a direct line from findings to rule updates.
    TTX
    IR leads / incident commanders
    Need to pressure-test escalation paths and decision trees under realistic adversarial pressure before the real call comes.
    PTE · Hybrid
    Red team leads
    Need structured engagements that connect offensive findings directly to blue team improvements — not standalone reports.
    Any format
    Compliance / risk teams
    Need documented evidence of exercise activity for NERC CIP, DORA, HIPAA, and TSA requirements.
    PTE · Hybrid
    Purple team coordinators
    Need a repeatable framework that operationalizes CTI into executable scenarios with measurable control improvement.

    Common Questions

    What teams ask before scheduling an exercise.

     
    Q
    How long does an exercise engagement take?
    TTX engagements run half-day or full-day. PTEs run one to three days depending on scope. Hybrid engagements run two to four days. Scoping and scenario development typically adds two to four weeks prior to exercise day.
    Q
    How is this different from a traditional red team engagement?
    Traditional red team engagements are offensive assessments — the blue team usually doesn’t know it’s happening. SCYTHE PTEs are collaborative by design: red and blue operate together with shared visibility, accelerating detection engineering rather than just scoring an outcome.
    Q
    Can exercises be built around specific regulatory requirements?
    Yes. SCYTHE scenarios are regularly aligned to NERC CIP, DORA, HIPAA, TSA Security Directives, and NIST CSF, with documentation formatted for regulatory evidence requirements.
    Q
    How often should organizations run exercises?
    TTX exercises typically run annually or after major IR changes. PTEs are more effective quarterly. For organizations with continuous compliance requirements, SCYTHE’s Managed Purple Teaming provides recurring structured exercises on a defined cadence.

    Wondering how SCYTHE performs
    an exercise? Download the SCYTHE PTEF
    framework today.

    Download Guide

    Related solutions

    Exercises are one part of a continuous validation program.

     

    Schedule an exercise

    Find out what your team would actually do if the scenario branched the wrong way, and scoped to TTX, PTE, or Hybrid on your teams needs and maturity level.