And finally…House PwC plays its hand in a Game of Threats

PwC has this week launched an interactive cyber breach game for senior executives.

The head-to-head digital card game pits teams of attackers against defenders and is designed to simulate the experience that leadership teams could realistically face in the midst of a cyber attack.

The game was developed by PwC based on experience of real life cyber attacks clients had faced.

Designed to be a non-technical introduction to cyber security, the game sees each team interact with a tablet controller and choose from a number of attack or response cards to play.

Through 12 rounds of quick, high-impact decision-making, players face similar pressures to a real cyber attack. Senior executives are given the chance to explore various strategies and familiarise themselves with cyber terminology, whilst seeing the impact of their moves in real time and facing constraints on time, resources and information.

Run as part of a workshop and education session with PwC’s cyber security experts, Game of Threats helps leadership teams assess and enhance their readiness for cyber incidents, covering how to:

Colin Slater, cyber security lead in Scotland at PwC, said: “We’ve created Game of Threats to raise awareness amongst senior executives and management to demonstrate realistically how a Cyber security incident feels, the decisions that have to made and the cadence of these. It’s presented in an easy to understand, inexpensive way that doesn’t put any data at risk, plus it’s contextual and feels fun to engage with.

“The game reflects the growing role of cyber security in organisational culture, DNA and operations. Putting your senior people into a realistic environment where they literally feel the pressure uncovers a lot about how well you would cope.

“The game aims to help businesses understand the issues and the bigger picture of cyber security.”

Alex Petsopoulos, cyber security partner at PwC, said: “Cyber security requires leadership and engagement from the very top of a business and is no longer merely a topic for IT. Game of Threats is intended to raise awareness amongst business leaders of the real and increasing nature of cyber threats. The workshop challenges clients to answer questions about how they would cope in a real situation, educating a senior leadership team on current cyber issues, crisis decision-making, and associated communications techniques.”

After playing Game of Threats, PwC moderators provide a detailed summary of the game, reviewing both teams’ strategies, actions and missed opportunities to prevent – or succeed in executing – a cyber security breach. The moderators also discuss how the game could relate back to the real life security posture and risks facing the client’s organisation, providing real and practical value to executives.

Christian Arndt, cyber security director at PwC, added: “The workshop allows participants to develop a better knowledge of the threat actors, tools and techniques which could threaten their systems and data. We then help players consider how best to prevent, detect and defend against such threats.

“We’ve taken some of the UK’s largest businesses through the game to date, tailoring it to best reflect their individual situation and risk profile. Game of Threats has helped these businesses gain a better understanding of the cyber threats they face, and serves as a good test of the efficacy of their current cyber security strategy.”