Business Resilience

Business Continuity Mock Tests

A plan that has never been exercised is a document. The exercise is observed and evaluated, gaps are identified and corrected, and the scenario is retested.

Methodology

01
Scenario
Select the scenario the exercise runs.
02
Exercise
Run the controlled exercise.
03
Observe
Observe what actually happens.
04
Evaluate
Evaluate performance against the plan.
05
Identify Gaps
Identify where the plan did not hold.
06
Correct
Correct those gaps.
07
Retest
Retest the corrected scenario.

Approach to testing

Requirement — what does the applicable standard, regulation or framework require?
Control — what control has the organisation established?
Implementation — how is the control actually implemented?
Evidence — what evidence demonstrates that the control operates?
Risk — what happens if the control is ineffective or absent?
Action — what needs to be changed?
Validation — has the corrective action actually addressed the issue?

Types of assessment

Black-Box

Assessment begins with limited organisational information, to provide an independent perspective of the governance environment.

Grey-Box

Selected organisational documentation, process information and evidence are provided for structured assessment.

White-Box

Full documentation, evidence, stakeholder and process access is provided for detailed control validation.

Hybrid

Combines independent assessment techniques with detailed evidence and stakeholder validation.

Frameworks and standards

ISO 22301 Principles: The continuity principles the exercises follow.
Business Continuity Exercise Toolkit: The toolkit the exercises are run from.
Scenario & Exercise Templates: The scenarios exercised.
Recovery Validation Checklist: How recovery is validated during the exercise.

Tools used

Tooling is where testing starts, not where it ends. Every automated result is reproduced by hand before it reaches a report.

Business Continuity Exercise Toolkit

Scenario design, observation and evaluation.

Recovery Validation Checklist

Validates recovery during the exercise rather than after it.

PlyoGRC

Where appropriate, the toolkits are supported through PlyoGRC for control, evidence, risk and compliance management.

Checklist approach

The checklist is the floor, not the ceiling. It guarantees coverage so nothing standard is missed; the findings that matter usually come from what a tester does after it is complete.

Exercise types

Tabletop exercises
Management crisis simulations
IT disaster recovery exercises
Communication exercises

Scenarios

Business process recovery tests
Ransomware scenario exercises
Critical supplier failure scenarios
System / service outage scenarios

How CSS tests

A unified swarm of agents, for blind spot detection

AI agents drive several testing tracks against the same target at once, then cross-check each other. A single tester works one hypothesis at a time; parallel agents cover the space a sequential pass leaves behind.

Framework Mapping Agent — maps requirements and controls across applicable frameworks.
Policy Analysis Agent — identifies potential missing, inconsistent or outdated requirements.
Evidence Analysis Agent — associates evidence with applicable controls and identifies evidence gaps.
Risk Analysis Agent — identifies recurring risk themes and potential control weaknesses.
Blind-Spot Detection Agent — looks for issues that may not be immediately visible through conventional checklist assessment.
Executive Reporting Agent — helps transform detailed assessment information into concise management reporting.

AI-assisted analysis supports the assessment team but does not replace professional judgement. Material findings, risk conclusions and recommendations are reviewed and validated by CyberSmithSECURE professionals.

Why this differs

What CSS does that most vendors do not

Every one of these is checkable. Ask any vendor for the same and compare the answers.

Beyond the checklist

Structured checklists and framework mappings establish coverage, but the assessment continues through implementation, evidence, risk, action and validation.

Retested, not just reported

Correction and retest are part of the engagement, so the exercise ends with a plan that has been shown to work.

Operating control, not documentation only

Evidence is validated across five stages: Designed — is it appropriately designed? Implemented — has it been implemented? Operating — is it actually performed? Evidenced — can operation be shown? Effective — is it achieving its goal?

Human-in-the-loop AI assistance

What you receive

A working management system, not a folder of documents

The target state is that owners know what they must do, management knows what decisions are pending, and evidence exists to demonstrate that controls operate. Outputs are grouped by who uses them.

Executive layer

Scope, risk posture, roadmap, management decisions, KPI/KRI, readiness summary

GRC layer

Risk register, Statement of Applicability, policies, procedures, ownership, evidence map, action tracker

Assurance layer

Internal audit, findings, CAPA, management review, certification-readiness assessment

Operational layer

Control records, recurring reviews, awareness, supplier / access / incident / continuity evidence as applicable

Governance cadence established

Monthly: Risk / action review, evidence status, control exceptions, material incidents
Quarterly: Risk trend, supplier / control reviews, KPI/KRI, management action tracking
Annual: Internal audit programme, management review, ISMS objectives, risk refresh, improvement plan

For this engagement specifically

Control owners
IT teams
Security teams
Compliance teams
Process owners
Auditors
Key risks
Significant gaps
Business impact
Priority actions
Ownership
Target timelines

Scope this assessment

Most scopes are settled in one call. Tell us what the application does and who uses it, and we will tell you what testing it properly involves.

Start a conversation All Business Resilience capabilities