Think Like an Attacker: Creative Testing for Real Resilience

When it comes to cybersecurity, traditional testing approaches can leave organisations with a false sense of security. In the latest episode of Cyber Insiders, we’re joined by Leanne Salisbury, Principal Consultant at Adarma, who explains why organisations need to move beyond compliance-driven, tick-box exercises and instead adopt a creative, attacker-mindset. 

Leanne shares how developing imaginative, business-aligned testing scenarios can uncover critical blind spots that standard methods often miss. Rather than simply validating known defences, creative scenario testing challenges organisations to think differently, stress-test their assumptions, and identify vulnerabilities that could lead to serious disruption if left unaddressed. 

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

• How to map creative testing scenarios to critical business functions and revenue-generating activities. 

• Why understanding attacker motivations and thinking beyond the obvious is vital to improving your cybersecurity posture. 

• How creative scenario planning can benefit organisations with operational technology (OT) environments — without risking live disruption. 

• Ways to break the “it hasn’t happened yet” mindset and secure leadership buy-in for improvements. 

Leanne also outlines practical next steps for turning insights from creative scenario testing into real-world action, helping organisations build more robust defences and avoid standing still in an ever-changing threat landscape. 

To get the full story and learn how creative scenario testing can push organisations beyond their comfort zone, listen to the full episode of Cyber Insiders now.