Realizing the Full Potential of Drill Mode in Crisis Simulator

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade or so, you already know cyber crises have become increasingly prevalent – posing significant threats to organizations worldwide. Organizations must continuously assess and improve their technical and non-technical teams’ knowledge, skills, and judgment to combat these challenges.

This is where Immersive Labs’ Crisis Simulator comes into play. With single-player, drill, and presentation modes available, organizations can conduct team exercises that simulate real-world cyber crises in a number of different formats to prevent exercise fatigue. This allows organizations to create an exercising-first culture – as one tabletop exercise a year just isn’t enough.

Let’s dig more into drill mode and learn how it helps users realize the true potential of cyber crisis planning.

Crisis Simulator Drill Mode: What is it?

Drill mode is a multiplayer crisis exercising format which allows participants to assume specific roles and tackle role-specific challenges. The goal is to strengthen their domain knowledge and develop muscle memory to more effectively deal with an actual crisis. A Crisis Sim administrator can assign clearly defined roles by aligning participants’ tasks with their actual job duties, ensuring the drills reflect real-life scenarios. Upon assignment, players receive notifications about their upcoming exercise, followed by a message signaling the start of their role-specific decision point or “inject.” Drill mode follows a sequential “pass the baton” style relay, allowing only one role to have an active task at any given time, with the completion of an active task triggering the next task.

Some exercises may require players to complete multiple injects in succession, creating a cohesive and dynamic experience. Individual players’ decisions (good or bad) will significantly impact how the scenario unfolds for others, mimicking the interdependence and complexity of real crises.

Benefits for Customers

Drill mode was developed using direct customer feedback. Immersive Labs users were looking to exercise teams with role-relevant content to increase exercising engagement. With drill mode, and unlike competing solutions, participants aren’t expected to answer injects outside their area of expertise – ensuring a more focused and realistic experience. Drill mode’s emphasis on role-specific tasks promotes a more authentic depiction of how crisis responses really unfold. Recognizing no individual holds all decision-making power during a crisis, Drill mode reinforces collaboration and coordination among team members.

Data gathered during a drill scenario allows teams to identify points of weakness and develop targeted training interventions. Drill mode also enables organizations to track the time needed for participants to complete each inject. This valuable metric provides insights into individual and team performance, giving organizations more data to refine their crisis response strategies and optimize resource allocation.

Embracing Remote-First Work Environments

With the proliferation of remote work, Crisis Simulator’s drill mode adapts nicely to evolving organizational needs. Players receive notifications and contribute when required. This remote-first approach enables seamless participation and ensures teams are well-prepared, regardless of geographical dispersion. Our micro-drills allow key contributors to allocate less than 10 minutes per decision point, significantly reducing their time commitment compared to traditional full-day drills. This efficient utilization of resources maximizes productivity and minimizes disruption to daily operations.

Immersive Yourself

Drill mode is a powerful feature within the Crisis Simulator that unleashes the true potential of cyber crisis planning. By assigning clearly defined roles to participants, organizations can conduct team exercises where each player assumes their actual job role in completing an assigned task.

With a strategic and measurable approach to cyber crisis preparedness, Crisis Simulation with drill mode identifies weaknesses and promotes collaboration among team members. With the ability to track inject completion time, adapt to remote work environments, and offer versatile scenario options, drill mode empowers organizations to build greater resilience in the face of cyber threats.

WRITTEN BY

Gregg Ogden

Charlotte Ball