SENTRICUS to lead cybersecurity crisis tabletop exercise for Baruch College’s Tech Talent Pipeline students

Two-hour banking scenario will test executive, regulatory, operational and technical decision-making.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, August 11, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 2026 — SENTRICUS will lead a two-hour cybersecurity crisis tabletop exercise for undergraduate students at Baruch College on Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to noon. The exercise is delivered through the college’s Tech Talent Pipeline (TTP) Residency program. The discussion-based exercise will place students in executive, regulatory, operational and technical roles as they respond to a fast-moving cyber incident affecting a fictional financial institution.

As the scenario develops, students will receive new information, assess competing priorities and make decisions involving threat containment, business continuity, escalation, communications, regulatory obligations and stakeholder impact. Although centered on banking, the exercise will also show how cyber incidents affecting payment systems and other critical services can become matters of national resilience.

“Academic study gives students an essential foundation,” said Harlan A. Bizzell, chief executive officer of SENTRICUS. “Experiential exercises help them apply that knowledge when the facts are incomplete, the pressure is real and decisions have consequences. That is how students begin developing the judgment and accountability required in the workplace.”
Regulatory and technical perspectives in one exercise

The exercise will be co-facilitated by Otuoze Baiye, founder and chief executive officer of Black Knight Risk Management, and Kermit Middleton, founder and chief executive officer of Cluster Technology Group. Both firms are strategic partners of SENTRICUS.

Baiye, a West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran, has served as a missile defense officer and worked as a bank examiner with expertise in both federal and state regulations. His background covers technology, cybersecurity, and risk assessments for banks and other regulated financial institutions. Middleton, also a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, is an accomplished network engineer whose experience spans federal infrastructure modernization, firewalls, intrusion detection, and cloud security platforms.

“Understanding cybersecurity concepts and making decisions during an incident are different experiences,” Baiye said. “This exercise gives students a safe environment to work through incomplete information, competing priorities and accountability before they encounter those pressures professionally.”

“Technical teams do not operate in isolation during a crisis,” Middleton said. “Students need to see how infrastructure decisions, business needs and executive direction interact. That connection is what makes a tabletop exercise valuable.”

Building practical cybersecurity judgment
The exercise reflects a central challenge of incident response: leaders must contain the threat while preserving critical operations, communicating effectively and making defensible decisions with incomplete information. The format emphasizes judgment, coordination and escalation rather than the use of technical tools alone, and concludes with a structured debrief on how participant decisions affected the organization’s response.

TTP Residency is a three-month program that gives competitive undergraduates on-the-job experience, connects local employers to local talent and delivers industry feedback that informs curricular content across New York City schools. SENTRICUS works with academic institutions to develop practitioner-led cybersecurity education, experiential learning, mentorship and career-development opportunities that connect classroom knowledge with real-world decision-making. Academic departments, cyber clubs and student programs interested in hosting a tabletop exercise can contact Will Lynch at media@sentricus.com.

About SENTRICUS
SENTRICUS helps organizations reduce cyber risk, strengthen compliance, govern AI responsibly and translate complex security issues into defensible decisions. Headquartered in Litchfield, Connecticut, the company delivers cybersecurity education, assessments, advisory services, risk-aligned solutions and governance support to public- and private-sector organizations where accountability matters.
Website: sentricus.com | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/sentricus
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William Lynch
SENTRICUS, Inc
+1 732-239-2179
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