Cybersecurity tabletop board game pits hackers vs. defenders

A new board game, billed as the first of its kind, aims to bring the fun and excitement of tabletop cybersecurity exercises to your living room.

WHY IT MATTERS
Guardians of the Grid was created by the nonprofit Pro Se Practice, which hopes to crowdsource at least $20,000 on Kickstarter to get the cybersecurity game launched.

“Based on real-life incidents and trusted frameworks such as MITER ATT&CK, CIS Top 10 and the NIST 800 series, Guardians of the Grid presents a thrilling duel between the cunning Red Team, which embodies hackers, and the brave Blue Team, which the defenders,” said the campaign.

The company names Aaron Weismann, chief information security officer at Philadelphia-based Main Line Health, as CEO and founder.

The game would come with a generic incident response map – “a playbook detailing exactly what you need to do to deal with and recover from the disaster.” It covers the spread of malware, file recovery and operations, advice on insurance and payment negotiations, and how to communicate with the public and stakeholders, according to the campaign’s FAQs.

If the company reaches its second funding goal, additional “booster packs” would provide scenarios of threat actors and real-world events. They will include some based on cyber gangs that have a history of attacking healthcare organizations – LockBit, REvil, BlackCat, Ryuk and others.

The all-or-nothing crowdsourced funding campaign runs until November 10 with a goal of $20,000.

If Pro Se Practice reaches $75,000 in funds raised, it will create specialized modules for key industries – including healthcare, finance and utilities, the company said.

“Patient records, medical equipment and critical care systems are increasingly threatened by cyber threats,” says Pro Se Practice.

“In the healthcare module, you navigate the sensitive and complex web of medical data security, with an emphasis on protecting lives and privacy.”

Some of the visuals will be generated by artificial intelligence, but none of the written content or gameplay will be generated by AI, the company said.

THE BIG TREND
Tabletop exercises are highly recommended by cybersecurity experts from various industries.

At the HIMSS Cybersecurity Forum in Boston last week, Margie Zuk, senior cybersecurity engineer at MITER, said hospitals should do this regionally to prepare for ransomware attacks that cause longer downtimes, and urged attendees to use the updated manual to consult: Cybersecurity playbook for medical devices, regional incident preparedness and response.

“Healthcare organizations regularly practice for mass casualty events and other clinical events – and that same kind of focus and rigor should be applied when preparing for a cyberattack,” she said. Healthcare IT news last month ahead of the session on renewing your cybersecurity strategy for 2023 and beyond.

“With patient safety potentially at stake, our community cannot focus enough on that.”

ON THE RECORD
“Preparing for a disaster is essential, and I will help you understand how to do it,” Pro Se Practice says about Guardians of the Grid in the FAQ.