Why Companies Are Investing More In Cybersecurity Crisis Simulations
Why Companies Are Investing More In Cybersecurity Crisis Simulations
Every year, CISOs face the same tough question: Where should they invest their security budget to make the biggest impact? Traditionally, the focus has been on prevention—hardening defenses, patching vulnerabilities, and keeping attackers out.
But after another relentless wave of cyberattacks in 2024, mindsets are shifting. Rather than exhaust budgets on that elusive, foolproof prevention, security leaders are investing more in readiness. They’re turning to crisis simulations that mimic real-world, high-pressure scenarios. Here’s more on the trend of increased investments in cybersecurity crisis simulations.
The Data Tells the Story: CISOs Doubling Down on Crisis Readiness
Cold hard data is always a good place to start when analyzing trends. A recent story from Infosecurity Magazine reported on some interesting findings from a survey of CISOs. The numbers reveal a decisive move toward proactive crisis readiness:
74% of CISOs plan to increase crisis simulation budgets in 2025.
Cybersecurity budgets are finite, and every dollar spent must justify its value. The fact that nearly three-quarters of CISOs are prioritizing crisis simulations signals a fundamental change in risk management philosophy. Organizations are realizing that reacting effectively to an attack is just as important as trying to stop one. It’s about ensuring business continuity and minimizing damage when the inevitable breach occurs.73% rank live cyber incident drills as their top business priority.
For years, incident response training involved boardroom tabletop exercises or got buried within compliance checklists (some regulations demand specific timeframes related to IR). The fact that nearly the same percentage of CISOs prioritizing simulation budget increases are also elevating live drills to a critical cybersecurity initiative speaks volumes. A well-executed simulation program can expose gaps in detection, response coordination, communication, and leadership decision-making, all of which can make the difference between a controlled incident and a full-blown crisis.16% of security budgets are being reallocated to crisis preparedness.
Budget allocation is the ultimate indicator of strategic priorities. While prevention remains a cornerstone of cybersecurity, this figure shows companies are actively pulling resources away from other areas to strengthen crisis preparedness. This reallocation suggests that CISOs and executive leadership increasingly recognize the financial impact of unpreparedness—downtime, reputational damage, legal liabilities, and regulatory fines.77% of CISOs would prioritize crisis simulations if they were more realistic and actionable.
This interesting stat exposes one of the biggest weaknesses in traditional crisis training: Many simulations simply don’t reflect the real-world complexity of a modern attack. Static tabletop exercises, individual skills labs, and generic training modules fail to recreate the high-pressure, rapidly evolving nature of a true cyber crisis. This is why immersive cyber ranges with live-fire simulations are becoming the gold standard. CISOs want more than theoretical exercises—they need actionable, scenario-driven training that forces teams to react in real time and under realistic circumstances.
Why Cyber Crisis Simulations Are Now a Budget Priority
Cyber attack and breach stats have been trending in a bad direction for several years now. With attacks not slowing down, and average breach costs climbing higher each year, it’s starting to become more evident that you need to assume the worst and prepare well for it.
Companies that respond quickly can save millions in downtime, legal penalties, and brand damage. By investing in cyber crisis simulations, organizations stress-test their response playbooks before an actual attack.
Without real-world crisis training, teams hesitate, communication breaks down, and response efforts become chaotic.
Delays in containment allow attackers to exfiltrate more data, encrypt more systems, and escalate the attack further.
The longer an attack lingers, the higher the cost of remediation, regulatory fines, and customer churn.
Consider also how continued breaches are reshaping conversations around accountability. CEOs and board members are no longer satisfied with assurances that the security stack is strong. They want proof that the organization can withstand an actual attack. Boards are demanding crisis simulation results as part of overall risk assessments.
On the flip side, regulators are scrutinizing response times and containment strategies after publicized breaches and not only holding security teams responsible, but management as well (see the NIS2 regulation’s focus on management accountability for cybersecurity breaches).
Whatever lens you look at it, showing that you took actionable steps to prepare through crisis simulations goes a long way toward showing accountability.
From an attack perspective, today’s cyberattacks don’t unfold like they did five years ago. They are:
Faster: Ransomware actors automate attacks, encrypting entire networks in minutes.
More coordinated: Double-extortion ransomware tactics involve encryption and data theft, pressuring victims into paying.
More sophisticated: Threat actors use AI-driven phishing, deepfake social engineering, and supply chain infiltration to bypass traditional defenses.
Without regular, high-fidelity crisis simulations, even well-trained security teams struggle to respond to modern attack tactics. Simulations replicate evolving threats so that defenders don’t experience them for the first time during a real breach.
What Makes a Crisis Simulation Effective?
To be effective, simulations must go beyond scripted discussions and mirror the chaos, speed, and unpredictability of actual attacks. Here’s what sets impactful crisis simulations apart:
1. Realism
Attackers don’t follow playbooks, and neither should training. Simulations must evolve dynamically rather than relying on pre-scripted scenarios.
Threats should match your company’s actual risk profile, from ransomware extortion to supply chain attacks.
Incorporating live-fire drills where security teams actively respond to malware infections or network breaches builds real-world readiness.
2. Decision-Making Under Pressure
Effective simulations don’t allow unlimited deliberation. Using timers, for example, forces real-time decision-making as threats escalate.
Teams must work with incomplete information and adjust as new developments arise, just like in actual attacks.
3. Metrics-Driven Evaluation
Data-driven insights measure response time, coordination effectiveness, and playbook gaps.
Key takeaways include time to detect, contain, and recover—with clear areas for improvement.
Without hard metrics, crisis exercises become routine drills with no actionable results.
4. Continuous Improvement
One-off or infrequent simulations aren’t enough because threats evolve, and training must keep up.
CISOs should refine incident response plans after each exercise based on lessons learned.
Ongoing crisis drills ensure teams stay sharp and improve response speed over time.
The Cloud Range Advantage: Delivering Realistic, Scalable Cyber Simulations
CISOs evidently want to spend more on cyber simulations, but not all simulations deliver real-world preparedness. Many are outdated, static, and too limited to truly test your teams under pressure and translate into better readiness for real crises.
Cloud Range’s cyber range-as-a-service is the ideal platform to run your cybersecurity team’s crisis simulations. Select from a diverse set of exercise types to simulate various cybersecurity crises or test responses:
Red Team, Blue Team, and Red vs. Blue Exercises – Train both offensive and defensive teams in live-fire attack missions.
Purple Team Drills – Foster collaboration between offensive and defensive security teams to strengthen detection and response strategies.
Capture the Flag (CTF) Challenges – Gamified training that enhances threat hunting, forensics, and real-time problem-solving skills.
IT/OT Cyber Exercises – Address security risks across both IT environments and operational technology (OT) systems, essential for critical infrastructure and industrial control systems protection.
You get team-based, live-fire training in a controlled, risk-free environment. You can replicate your network setup for added realism and choose from a large library of attack simulations.
