Cytactic Replaces Traditional Tabletop Exercises with In-Platform Simulation Engine

SAN FRANCISCO, March 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytactic today announced the launch of its in-platform Simulation Engine, introducing a new model for how organizations rehearse and validate cyber incident response. The release moves tabletop exercises (TTX) out of static, discussion-based formats and into the operational environment where incidents are actually managed.

Despite widespread adoption of tabletop exercises, most organizations remain underprepared for real incidents. According to the 2025 State of Cyber Incident Response Management (CIRM), 41% of cybersecurity leaders say their last incident revealed they were far less ready than expected, while 57% encountered scenarios they had never rehearsed. At the same time, 80% report their teams lack sufficient practice.

Traditional tabletop exercises rely on slides, documents, and facilitator-led discussion, often based on generalized scenarios. Teams walk through decisions, but not execution, leaving gaps in coordination, ownership, and cross-functional alignment that only surface during a real incident.

"Most tabletop exercises validate plans, they don't prepare teams," said Nimrod Kozlovski, Founder and CEO of Cytactic. "Simulations need to reflect how incidents actually unfold. Otherwise, organizations are rehearsing in theory and failing to respond effectively in reality."

Cytactic's Simulation Engine embeds simulation directly into the incident response platform, enabling organizations to build and execute scenarios within the same environment used during live incidents. Teams operate through realistic, step-based scenarios tailored to their own threat models, engaging the same workflows, roles, and decision structures they will rely on in a real crisis. At the core of the release is the Simulation Builder, which enables teams to generate and customize scenarios in minutes, either manually, from a library of real-world patterns, or through AI-driven generation based on selected attack vectors. This removes the traditional time and effort required to run meaningful exercises, making continuous, tailored rehearsal operationally feasible.

Cytactic captures decisions, coordination gaps, and execution breakdowns as they occur, creating a structured record of performance under pressure. This enables organizations to improve readiness while also meeting growing regulatory expectations under frameworks such as PCI DSS, NYDFS, HIPAA, SOC 2, and ISO 27001, which require realistic, cross-functional testing with documented outcomes.

By embedding simulations into the operational environment, Cytactic shifts incident readiness from periodic validation to continuous, risk-aligned rehearsal, ensuring organizations are prepared not just in theory, but in execution.

About Cytactic

Cytactic is the Agentic Cybersecurity Incident Response Management (CIRM) Hub, a category recently introduced by Gartner. Cytactic has been recognized by Gartner as a sample vendor in the CIRM category and was also named one of Fortune's Top 50 Cybersecurity Companies for 2025. Cytactic's platform enables proactive cybersecurity incident readiness, addressing any organization's specific risks. Using the platform, organizations gain operational maturity and cross-functional alignment before a crisis, empowering teams to act in sync when an incident strikes, with agentic response management that dynamically minimizes all aspects of the damage. For more information, visit cytactic.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Cytactic