[Masterclass] Threat-Led Tabletop Exercises: From Compliance Checkbox to Strategic Advantage

Crossfunctional

Location: Laboratory - 9/4/26, 9:00 AM - 9/4/26, 10:30 AM (Europe/Berlin) (1 hour 30 minutes)

Salvatore Arcidiacona

Salvatore Arcidiacona brings many years of hands‑on experience in cyber defence and security operations. Before taking on his current leadership role at PRAGMATICA, he worked extensively as a Senior Cyber Security and SOC Manager, where he was responsible for security monitoring, incident response, and the continuous improvement of detection and response capabilities.

Throughout his career, he has trained and mentored SOC analysts, designed operational defence processes, and worked closely with organizations to translate real‑world threat scenarios into actionable security practices.

His background combines deep operational experience with strategic cyber defence and resilience engineering, shaped by continuous involvement in international security communities and conferences.

This masterclass starts by introducing a practical methodology for threat‑led tabletop exercises that participants can take back to their own organizations. Rather than focusing on abstract frameworks, the methodology shows how realistic threat scenarios are designed, how organizational context is incorporated, and how exercises can be structured to meet both operational and regulatory expectations.

Building on this foundation, participants jointly take part in a rapid live threat‑led tabletop exercise. All groups work on the same scenario, facing a realistic cyber threat under time pressure and uncertainty. While the scenario is shared, the decisions, priorities, and discussions differ.

This approach allows participants to continuously compare the exercise dynamics with how their own organization would actually respond. Where would decisions be slower or faster? Which roles are missing or unclear? What assumptions no longer hold under pressure?

The session concludes with guided reflection, helping participants identify concrete lessons learned and capability gaps they can take back to their organizations.

This is not a presentation. It is an interactive, experience‑based masterclass designed to help security and risk leaders move from theoretical preparedness to actionable insight.

Ideal for: