OUTFOXM WARGAMING FRAMEWORK 2026
Outfox the Storm
How Boards, C-Suites and CISOs Should Be
Wargaming in the Mythos Era
When a cyber incident becomes a crisis, technical playbooks alone don't carry you through. This is OUTFOXM's framework for rehearsing the leadership decision muscle that does, drawn from forty exercises over nine years.
Flexible and applicable across Fortune 100s, mid-market and startups alike.
About the Author
Maria-Kristina Hayden is the founder and CEO of OUTFOXM, a cyber wargaming firm focused on the human side of crisis response. She advises boards, CISOs and mid-market executives on human cyber risk, cyber resiliency and intelligence, using realistic wargames that go beyond compliance theater. A former Cyber Intelligence Officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency and Director of Cyber Awareness and Wargaming at BNY Mellon, Maria-Kristina speaks at venues from Capitol Hill to news broadcasts to corporate boardrooms. Roughly 40 wargames designed and facilitated across 9 years of practice.
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Why most cyber response plans fail under pressure
Most organizations have an incident response plan. Most have done at least one tabletop. Most have invested heavily in technical detection and recovery. And most still freeze, miscommunicate, or make slow decisions when a real incident hits.
The reason is not technical. It is human. Outfox the Storm names the six dimensions that separate cyber wargames that move the needle from ones that just check a compliance box, plus the three elite practices that take a program from good to great.
INSIDE THE FRAMEWORK
Ten shifts happening to wargaming as a result of Mythos
Six dimensions that separate real cyber wargames from performance theater
Three elite practices that move a program from good to great
A diagnostic for buyers evaluating a wargaming program
A minimum viable version for teams without budget for a specialist
A pre-engagement vetting tool: how to interview a wargame facilitator
WHO IT’S FOR
C-suite leaders responsible for crisis response across functions, not just Information Technology or Cybersecurity.
Security leaders responsible for incident rehearsal at boards and
C-suite scale.Fortune 100s, crypto startups and every organization in between.