Cybersecurity Policy Report, U.K. Offers Guidance on Cyber Adversary Simulations, (Sep 21, 2026)

By Tony Foley

Guidance on conducting cyber adversary simulation exercises issued last week by the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) emphasizes the importance of using these tools to help organizations understand how they would fare against a capable cyber attacker.

In a blog post announcing the guidance last Thursday, the NCSC said adversary simulations could assess an organization’s defenses by safely and systematically testing the organization’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to a cyber attack. Organizations with mature cybersecurity procedures benefit in particular from these exercises because they put their defenses through their paces before they are needed in a real-life scenario, it said.

The NCSC added, however, that such simulations should not serve as a box-checking exercise with pass/fail outcomes. When carefully scoped, an adversary simulation will help organizations understand where their defenses are working, where they fall short, and what needs improvement. It also evaluates whether an organization can identify threats early, triage them quickly, and escalate situations where appropriate.

The guidance explains how engagement should be planned, controlled, delivered, and reported so that they give meaningful evidence about cyber resilience while managing the risks of testing live services and sensitive systems. In addition to the guidance, NCSC has shared the first set of Cyber Adversary Simulation (CyAS) documents, including the scheme standard and a working practices document. Taken together, these documents provide an early and transparent view of the standard that NCSC will use to assess applicants, including expectations on companies, key role holders, technical delivery, and reporting.

The agency pointed out that, in contrast to other similar industry standard schemes, the CyAS approach was “capability-led,” meaning that CyAS-assured companies would apply an adversarial mindset, use continuous and tailored reconnaissance, and develop bespoke approaches to the objectives at issue. When the scheme formally launches in November, buyers will be able to choose providers that have been assured against the CyAS standard, which will be refined as NCSC learns from early delivery and feedback from partners, buyers, and providers.

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