What happens when essential systems are disrupted for an extended period, and disinformation worsens the situation? At the eighth Government-wide Cyber Exercise, held on 2 November, government organisations practised responding to this scenario, focusing on cooperation and crisis-management communication.
The exercise was set in the fictional municipality of Waaldam. Sanctions imposed by the fictional country of Solunara caused several IT systems to fail, leaving staff unable to access key applications. Meanwhile, a problem at the local sewage pumping station caused flooding, and the municipality had to contend with disinformation.
Responding to the unexpected
The municipal crisis team, led by Mayor Ester Weststein of IJsselstein, was tasked with addressing the problems. Meanwhile, nine teams from government organisations worked through the crisis scenario.
Over 3 rounds, participants faced unexpected developments and difficult decisions. The exercise focused on prolonged crises, public communication, and countermeasures against disinformation. It also examined how extended outages can affect organisations and systems that depend on one another.
Learning from things going wrong
At the start of the exercise, Eric van der Burg, Minister for Kingdom Relations and Resilient Government, emphasised the importance of joint exercises. “The question is not whether you will face an attack, but when.” He stressed that there is much to learn when things do not go as planned. “I hope things go wrong for all of you, because that’s when you learn. And remember: a real crisis will never unfold exactly as you rehearsed it.”
At the end of the exercise, Government CIO Art de Blaauw also shared his reflections on preparing for cyber crises. He emphasised the importance of leadership and advised organisations to identify their essential systems and determine the backup arrangements they would need in the event of a prolonged outage.
About the Government-wide Cyber Exercise
Caribbean Cyber Resilience Programme
Since 2025, the Caribbean Cyber Resilience Programme has worked with governments and organisations in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to build stronger digital resilience. Through webinars, interviews, discussions with government leaders, and cyber crisis exercises, all tailored to the specific Caribbean context.
In October 2026, the programme held its second cyber crisis exercise at the .BQ Cybersecurity Convention on Bonaire. Cybersecurity professionals from different islands took part in a tabletop exercise based on a fictional crisis that reflected the islands’ interdependencies. The exercise scenario is available for organisations that want to test their own cyber crisis response procedures.
