Côte d’Ivoire’s cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, has scheduled its first national cyber-crisis simulation for October 28 and 29 at the Radisson Blu in Abidjan. The official CYBER.EX programme brings together decision-makers, technical experts and students to work through a staged attack affecting energy, information and communications technology, and finance. This is a preview of the published programme; it does not report a real attack or results from the exercise.
ANSSI’s advance notices describe the purpose as testing national response mechanisms and coordination between the state, critical-infrastructure operators and private organisations. The agency wants to identify weaknesses in technology, organisation and human decision-making before an actual incident exposes them. Its October 21 countdown and the event website agree on the two-day dates and Abidjan venue.
A test of decisions as well as systems
The programme gives different groups distinct roles, with activities for executives, technical specialists and students. Alongside the crisis simulation, the organisers list demonstrations, skills development and opportunities for young talent. That combination matters because a service disruption can demand several decisions at once: technical staff investigate, managers choose how to keep essential work running, and communications teams explain what users need to know.
For readers, a useful way to understand the exercise is to imagine a familiar service becoming unavailable. Who first recognises the problem? Who decides whether to suspend another connected service? How is a customer told what still works? These are illustrative questions, not disclosed details of ANSSI’s scenario. They show why a rehearsal should examine how people exchange information and make decisions, as well as the tools on their desks.
What to watch after the exercise
After the event, the most useful public account would explain what was tested, which gaps were found and who will follow up. A successful opening ceremony or a busy workshop would not, by itself, establish that essential systems are more resilient. Readers should look for concrete changes such as clearer escalation responsibilities, revised continuity arrangements or a timetable for repeating the exercise. Those are editorial assessment points, not results already announced by ANSSI.
The official FAQ describes an in-person event with limited places by sector and registration confirmation by email. It says only the opening ceremony and masterclass will be streamed on ANSSI’s official Facebook page, so readers should not expect remote access to every simulation session. Anyone planning to attend should check the organiser’s current instructions rather than assume that submitting a form guarantees admission.
For organisations following from elsewhere, the broader lesson is practical: people responsible for keeping a service running need to know one another’s roles before a crisis. A short internal rehearsal can start with an ordinary continuity question and a clear record of the decisions it produces. CYBER.EX offers a national-scale example to watch; its value will become clearer when the organisers report the lessons and the work that follows.
