– CYBER WARFARE
Strategic Cyber Wargaming for Executives and Boards
Strategic Cyber Wargaming That Prepares Boards and Executives to Lead Through Geopolitical Cyber Conflict.
Helping boards and executive teams rehearse the strategic decisions they will face in an era of cyber warfare. Eristotle’s Strategic Cyber Wargaming places your most senior leaders inside an immersive, multi-stage geopolitical scenario, one in which conflicts escalate, sanctions trigger retaliation, infrastructure comes under pressure, and information operations target your brand. Far beyond an operational tabletop, this is a strategic-level exercise that tests posture, governance, communication, and long-horizon decision-making, equipping leadership to navigate cyber conflict with foresight, clarity, and conviction.
Rehearse the Decisions That Define the Future. Before You’re Forced to Make Them.
When cyber warfare reaches commercial organizations, the most consequential decisions are not made in the SOC, they are made in the boardroom. Whether to continue operating in a contested market. Whether to pull a product line. How to respond to a regulator demanding answers within hours. What to say to investors as a coordinated narrative attack unfolds. Whether to invoke business continuity, suspend a major partnership, or absorb a sanctions-driven cyber retaliation. These are strategic, geopolitical, reputational, and existential decisions, and they cannot be improvised.
Eristotle’s Strategic Cyber Wargaming is a high-fidelity, scenario-based exercise designed specifically for boards, C-suites, and senior executive teams. It immerses leadership in a realistic, multi-stage cyber warfare scenario, typically spanning several days or weeks of compressed simulated time, that combines geopolitical escalation, cyber operations, supply chain disruption, regulatory pressure, and influence operations.
Unlike Gold Teaming (which focuses on operational crisis management) and Blue/Purple/Red Teaming (which focus on technical defense and adversary emulation), Strategic Cyber Wargaming is strategic-level: it tests posture, governance, communications, alliances, ethics, and long-horizon decision-making under conditions that no operational playbook can fully prepare leadership for.
The exercise is designed to:
- Stress-test the board and executive team’s strategic decision-making under cyber warfare conditions
- Surface unspoken assumptions about resilience, sovereignty, and acceptable trade-offs
- Reveal weaknesses in governance, escalation, and authority during high-stakes events
- Strengthen alignment between strategy, security, communications, legal, and operations
- Build leadership muscle memory for the kinds of decisions that define organizational futures
What the Wargame Tests
- Strategic decision-making under uncertainty and time pressure
- Geopolitical posture and alliance management
- Regulator, investor, customer, and government engagement
- Communications, narrative defense, and brand protection
- Business continuity, market exit, and operational decisions
- Cyber, supply chain, and insider risk responses at executive level
- Ethical, legal, and reputational trade-offs
- Coordination across executive, legal, comms, security, operations, and HR
Aligned to CWBOK™ – A Consensus Driven Standard
The Cyber Warfare Body of Knowledge (CWBOK™) is developed through a rigorous, consensus-driven process, incorporating the collective expertise of global cyber warfare specialists, military strategists, intelligence professionals, and cybersecurity experts. It defines the core skills, operational knowledge, and strategic competencies required by professionals engaged in cyber conflict, national defense, and critical infrastructure protection.
CWBOK™ outlines generally accepted practices for planning, executing, and defending against cyber warfare activities, including both offensive and defensive operations, threat intelligence, and incident response.
Community-driven and continuously refined through iterative contributions, CWBOK™ remains current with evolving tactics, technologies, and geopolitical threats. Its structured framework is designed to be transferable across nations, sectors, and mission contexts, allowing for adaptation to various defense, intelligence, and organizational needs.
1. Foundations and Strategic Context
- Definitions, concepts, scope, and principles of cyber warfare
- Cyber warfare doctrine, international law, rules of engagement, ethical considerations, governance, and national policies
- Risk management frameworks, strategic planning, capability building, and resource allocation
2. Offensive and Defensive Cyber Operations
- Offensive cyber operations: strategies, methodologies, tactics, and tools for executing cyber-attacks
- Defensive cyber operations: protective measures, threat detection, incident response, resilience, and mitigation techniques
3. Cyber Threat Intelligence and Incident Management
- Intelligence gathering methods, analysis techniques, threat modeling, predictive analytics
- Incident management processes, crisis response, continuity of operations, disaster recovery, crisis communication protocols
4. Cyber Warfare Technologies and Infrastructure
- Platforms, communication systems, cryptographic tools, command and control infrastructure, operational environments
5. Human Factors and Collaborative Engagement
- Psychological operations, social engineering, training, insider threats, workforce considerations
- International cooperation, cross-sector collaboration, public-private partnerships, information sharing strategies
6. Historical Perspectives and Emerging Trends
- Case studies and historical examples: analysis of past cyber conflicts, lessons learned, best practices, critical assessments
- Emerging threats and trends: advanced persistent threats (APTs), state-sponsored attacks, emerging vulnerabilities, evolving tactics, future landscape considerations
Key Objectives
- Rehearse Strategic Cyber Warfare Decisions in a Safe Environment
- Expose leadership to the strategic dilemmas of cyber conflict before they arrive
- Test the kinds of decisions that operational playbooks cannot anticipate
- Build muscle memory for high-stakes, high-uncertainty events
- Stress-Test Governance, Authority, and Decision Rights at the Top
- Validate decision rights, escalation paths, and authority models under pressure
- Surface ambiguities that only emerge in real, fast-moving situations
- Strengthen the link between board, committees, and executive leadership
- Align Strategy, Security, Communications, and Operations
- Build cross-functional alignment between strategic and operational layers
- Test coordination between executive, legal, comms, security, HR, and ops
- Embed shared language, frameworks, and expectations across leadership
- Equip Leaders to Navigate Geopolitical and Reputational Pressure
- Practice engagement with regulators, governments, customers, investors, and media
- Test response to coordinated narrative attacks, disinformation, and brand pressure
- Strengthen executive composure, communication, and credibility under stress
- Stress-Test Strategic Posture in a Geopolitically Contested Environment
- Test assumptions about market presence, supply chain, sanctions exposure, and partnerships
- Surface uncomfortable trade-offs around sovereignty, ethics, and continuity
- Inform long-term strategic decisions with realistic stress data
- Validate and Mature Cyber Warfare Doctrine and Posture
- Test the organization’s principles, red lines, and strategic posture
- Identify gaps in doctrine, governance, and leadership readiness
- Inform development of formal cyber warfare playbooks and frameworks
Business Outcomes & Benefits
- Strategic-Level Leadership Readiness
- Boards and executives equipped to lead through complex, multi-stage cyber events
- Improved confidence, composure, and clarity in high-stakes decisions
- Stronger executive alignment on cyber warfare posture and priorities
- Tested Governance and Decision Rights
- Validated authority models, escalation paths, and decision frameworks
- Identified ambiguities in roles, decision rights, and accountability
- Stronger governance posture for board, regulator, and investor scrutiny
- Stronger Crisis Communications and Reputation Defense
- Rehearsed engagement with media, regulators, customers, and investors
- Tested narrative defense against influence and disinformation operations
- Built executive capability for high-stakes, high-visibility communications
- Improved Strategic Resilience Under Geopolitical Pressure
- Tested ability to maintain operations, partnerships, and trust under stress
- Surfaced unspoken assumptions about resilience and sovereignty
- Stronger preparedness for sanctions, conflicts, and coordinated cyber events
- Enhanced Executive and Board Engagement on Cyber Warfare
- Leadership educated, engaged, and aligned on the realities of cyber warfare
- Stronger sponsorship for strategic security and resilience investment
- Improved credibility with boards, regulators, insurers, and customers
- Identification of Cross-Functional Coordination Gaps
- Surfacing of friction points between executive, legal, comms, security, HR, and ops
- Improved coordination, communication, and shared playbooks
- Stronger organizational unity in the face of cyber conflict
- Foundation for Cyber Warfare Doctrine and Posture
- Insights inform development of formal corporate cyber warfare doctrine
- Strengthened red lines, principles, and decision frameworks
- Maturity baseline for ongoing cyber warfare readiness programs
- Regulatory and Stakeholder Confidence
- Demonstrable maturity in cyber warfare and geopolitical risk readiness
- Alignment with expectations under DORA, NIS2, CMMC, and sector regulators
- Stronger positioning for due diligence, customer assurance, and investor engagement
- Lasting Capability, Not a Single Event
- Embedded learning, frameworks, and playbooks across leadership
- Foundation for ongoing wargames, exercises, and continuous improvement
- Sustainable resilience aligned with an evolving threat landscape
Key Features
- Strategic-Level Multi-Stage Scenario Design
- Scenarios spanning days or weeks of compressed simulated time
- Multiple acts: pre-conflict tension, escalation, crisis, aftermath
- Combination of cyber, geopolitical, supply chain, regulatory, and influence elements
- Geopolitical Storyline Engineering
- Realistic, intelligence-led scenarios drawn from current geopolitical reality
- Bespoke storylines tailored to your sector, geography, and strategic footprint
- Plausible nation-state and state-sponsored actor involvement
- Boardroom-Grade Facilitation
- Senior facilitators with intelligence, defense, and executive advisory backgrounds
- Peer-level engagement with chairs, NEDs, CEOs, and C-suite participants
- Discretion, gravitas, and confidentiality appropriate to the audience
- Live Inject Architecture
- Dynamic, evolving developments that mirror real-world unpredictability
- Media inquiries, regulator demands, customer escalations, social media events
- Internal injects: insider events, HR concerns, board member pressure
- Multi-Track Execution
- Board / Strategic Track, chair, NEDs, committee leads
- C-Suite / Executive Track, CEO, CFO, COO, GC, CHRO, CISO, CMO
- Operational Coordination Track, security, legal, comms, IR, business continuity
- Synchronized touchpoints to test inter-layer coordination
- Role-Specific Dilemmas and Decision Points
- Tailored challenges for each leadership role and committee
- Ethical, reputational, and strategic dilemmas requiring leadership judgment
- Forced trade-offs that surface values, posture, and governance assumptions
- Information Asymmetry and Fog of Conflict
- Realistic uncertainty, partial information, and conflicting reports
- Ambiguous attribution, evolving facts, and time pressure
- Practice in making decisions with incomplete data
- Influence Operations and Narrative Pressure
- Simulated disinformation campaigns, brand attacks, and reputational pressure
- Test of executive and communications response under media and social media stress
- Engagement with simulated journalists, investors, customers, and regulators
- Confidential, Secure Engagement Model
- Closed-door, off-site, or confidential virtual delivery
- Secure handling of all materials, scenarios, and findings
- Suitable for sensitive board, executive, and ownership audiences
- Alignment With CWBOK and Industry Frameworks
- Grounded in Eristotle’s Cyber Warfare Body of Knowledge (CWBOK™)
- Alignment with NIST SP 800-61, ISO 22301, and intelligence community standards
- Consistent, credible, and transferable approach across engagements
Deliverables
Depending on engagement scope, typical deliverables include:
Planning and Scenario Deliverables
- Pre-Wargame Strategic Scoping Pack
- Confidential interviews, exposure analysis, and storyline development
- Confirmation of objectives, participants, decision points, and red lines
- Scenario Design Pack
- Detailed multi-stage storyline, injects, and decision points
- Facilitator and observer guides, role cards, and confidential briefings
- Pre-Wargame Briefing Materials
- Concise pre-reads for participants
- Geopolitical, sector, and threat context aligned to the scenario
Execution Deliverables
- Live Wargame Event
- Multi-day or multi-session exercise delivered onsite, virtually, or hybrid
- Strategic, executive, and operational tracks with synchronized touchpoints
- Facilitated by senior Eristotle advisors with intelligence and executive backgrounds
- Real-Time Decision and Action Log
- Captured chronology of decisions, communications, and reasoning
- Evidence base for review, reflection, and post-exercise reporting
Debrief and Review Deliverables
- Strategic Hot Wash
- Immediate post-event session capturing observations, lessons, and reflections
- Role-Specific Reflections
- Individual or functional debriefs for chair, NEDs, CEO, and key executives
- Cross-Track Coordination Review
- Analysis of friction points, coordination gaps, and integration successes
Strategic Reporting Deliverables
- Strategic Wargame Report
- Comprehensive assessment of decisions, governance, communication, and posture
- Findings across people, process, governance, and strategy
- Observations on assumptions, blind spots, and emerging risks
- Cyber Warfare Posture Maturity Scorecard
- Evaluation across leadership readiness, governance, doctrine, and resilience
- Benchmarking against peer organizations and industry expectations
- Strategic Recommendations Pack
- Prioritized actions across governance, doctrine, communication, and capability
- Pathways into related Eristotle services for sustained development
Executive and Board Deliverables
- Executive Summary & Briefing Pack
- Concise, visual summary for executive and board audiences
- Boardroom-ready narrative on findings, posture, and required investment
- Board Decision Support Pack
- Recommended decisions, sponsorship asks, and governance considerations
- Confidential Briefing Session
- Closed-door briefing for the chair, CEO, and senior advisors
Continuous Improvement Deliverables
- Cyber Warfare Doctrine Recommendations
- Inputs to the development of corporate cyber warfare doctrine and red lines
- Wargame Program Roadmap
- Recommended cadence, themes, and progression for ongoing wargames
- Handover & Enablement Pack
- Documentation, knowledge transfer, and transition support for internal teams
How We Deliver
Each wargame is engineered around your organization, leadership, and strategic posture. We combine intelligence-grade scenario design with senior facilitation to ensure the exercise delivers genuine, lasting value, not just an event.
- Discovery & Strategic Scoping
- Confidential engagement with chair, CEO, and senior sponsors
- Confirmation of objectives, participants, sensitivity, and success criteria
- Identification of strategic priorities, exposure profile, and red lines
- Threat and Geopolitical Profiling
- Mapping of relevant nation-state actors, sectors, and geographies
- Identification of likely flashpoints and escalation pathways
- Integration with prior Nation-State Threat Exposure Assessments where engaged
- Scenario Engineering
- Bespoke multi-stage storyline development tailored to your business
- Design of injects, decision points, role-specific dilemmas, and dilemma trees
- Calibration to leadership ambition, time, and exposure tolerance
- Pre-Wargame Engagement
- Confidential briefings for chair, CEO, and senior sponsors
- Pre-reads and orientation for executives, NEDs, and committee leads
- Logistics, facilitation planning, and rules of engagement
- Live Facilitation
- Senior Eristotle advisors lead the exercise across strategic, executive, and operational tracks
- Dynamic injects, escalating complexity, and inter-track coordination
- Realistic engagement with simulated regulators, media, customers, and adversaries
- Post-Wargame Debriefs
- Structured strategic hot wash with all participants
- Role-specific reflection sessions for chair, CEO, and key executives
- Capture of observations, decisions, and lessons learned
- Strategic Reporting and Recommendations
- Detailed report mapping strengths, weaknesses, and improvement opportunities
- Cyber warfare posture maturity scoring and benchmarking
- Prioritized recommendations across governance, doctrine, capability, and culture
- Executive and Board Engagement
- Confidential briefing of findings and recommendations to the chair and CEO
- Boardroom presentation of outcomes, posture, and strategic asks
- Support for governance, sponsorship, and investment decisions
- Continuous Improvement and Pathways
- Recommendations for ongoing wargame cadence and progression
- Hand-offs into Cyber Warfare Doctrine Development, Hybrid Threat Readiness, Disinformation Defense, and related services
- Optional advisory partnership for sustained leadership readiness
Throughout the engagement, Eristotle operates with full discretion, confidentiality, and intelligence-grade rigor, ensuring the wargame delivers credible, defensible, and strategically transformative insight to your most senior leaders.
Who Should Use This Service?
- Boards and Board Committees seeking to mature cyber warfare oversight and governance
- Chairs and Non-Executive Directors responsible for strategic risk and resilience
- CEOs and Executive Committees leading organizations exposed to geopolitical risk
- Critical Infrastructure Operators in energy, finance, healthcare, telecoms, transport, and water
- Defense, Aerospace, and Government Suppliers at every tier of the supply chain
- Multinational Organizations with operations or supply across geopolitically sensitive regions
- Financial Services, Insurance, and Capital Markets Firms exposed to sanctions, conflicts, and strategic markets
- Technology and Telecommunications Providers embedded in customer infrastructure
- Regulated Organizations preparing for DORA, NIS2, CMMC, and sector-specific cyber resilience expectations
- Private Equity and Investment Firms assessing portfolio exposure and crisis readiness
Why Eristotle?
- Grounded in CWBOK™, the consensus-driven Cyber Warfare Body of Knowledge
- Battle-Tested Senior Advisors, drawn from intelligence, defense, government, and commercial enterprise
- Strategic, Not Operational, designed for boards and senior executives, not technical responders
- Discreet and Confidential, closed-door delivery designed for sensitive audiences
- Globally Networked, Eristotle Advisors with national, allied, and commercial experience
- Integrated Cyber Warfare Practice, connected with related CWBOK-aligned services for sustained readiness
Wargame Formats
The Strategic Cyber Wargame is offered in flexible formats tailored to your governance cycle, leadership availability, and ambition:
- Boardroom Half-Day, Focused, intensive scenario for the board and executive committee
- Strategic Wargame (1–2 Days), Full-spectrum exercise spanning strategic, executive, and operational tracks
- Executive Offsite (2–3 Days), Immersive, retreat-format wargame combined with strategy, doctrine, and reflection
- Multi-Phase Campaign Wargame, Multi-week scenario unfolding across sessions, mirroring real-world cadence
- Recurring Wargame Program, Annual or biannual exercises tied to evolving threats and strategy cycles
- Integrated Cyber Warfare Program, Combined with related CWBOK-aligned services (Threat Exposure, Geopolitical Advisory, Doctrine Development) for comprehensive leadership readiness
Related Services
Nation-State Threat Exposure Assessment
Geopolitical Cyber Risk Advisory
Strategic Cyber Wargaming for Executives and Boards
Supply Chain Cyber Warfare Exposure Review
Disinformation & Influence Operations Defense
Hybrid Threat Readiness Assessment
Ready to Stress-Test Leadership Before the Real Crisis Tests It for You?
The decisions that define organizational futures during cyber warfare are made at the top, under uncertainty, time pressure, and global scrutiny. Partner with Eristotle to immerse your board and executives in a strategic-level cyber wargame that rehearses those decisions in a safe, intelligence-led environment, building the foresight, alignment, and conviction your leadership will need when it matters most. Book a free 30-minute confidential discovery call with an Eristotle advisor. No commitment required.