Free · copy-ready

Board & Governance Cyber Templates

The hard part of a CISO’s job is rarely the technology — it is the decision in front of the board, and the document that records it. This is a free library of 20 board-ready templates for exactly those moments: the materiality call and its 8-K, the risk-appetite statement, the ransom-payment memo, the escalation matrix, the audit-committee pack, the insurance questionnaire. Each one is browsable here, one click to copy or download as Markdown, and paired with an interactive lab so you can practise the decision it documents.

Educational templates and decision drills — not legal advice. Adapt each one with qualified counsel for your jurisdiction and facts.

Disclosure, regulators & liability

Cyber Materiality Assessment & 8-K Decision Memo

Document the SEC Item 1.05 materiality call, the determination clock, and draft the disclosure.

Open template →Practice: Materiality Call Lab

CISO Liability & Documentation-Hygiene Checklist

What to attest, what to document, and the paper trail that protects you personally.

Open template →Practice: CISO Personal Liability Lab

Post-Breach Regulator Response Prep Sheet

Anticipated questions, framing, privilege protocol and a document-request log.

Open template →Practice: Regulator Interview Lab

Audit Committee Cyber Briefing Pack

Agenda, control-posture summary, remediation tracker and asks of the committee.

Open template →Practice: Audit Committee Q&A Lab

Cyber Governance Disclosure Template (Item 106)

Board-oversight and risk-management-process language for the 10-K, without over-disclosing.

Open template →Practice: Governance Disclosure Lab

The money conversation

Board Cyber Risk Register (Quantified)

Per-risk loss ranges, treatment and appetite status the board can actually act on.

Open template →Practice: Risk-to-Dollars Translation Lab

Security Investment Business Case One-Pager

Problem, options, risk reduced, payback and the decision ask — for a skeptical CFO.

Open template →Practice: Business Case / ROI Pitch Lab

Board Cyber Risk Appetite Statement

Appetite by category, tolerances, escalation triggers and a sign-off block.

Open template →Practice: Risk Appetite Statement Lab

Cyber Insurance Readiness Questionnaire & Control Checklist

The controls underwriters ask about, an evidence column and claim-readiness steps.

Open template →Practice: Cyber Insurance Renewal Lab

Board Cyber Metrics (KPI/KRI) Dashboard Template

The handful of board-grade metrics that drive decisions — and the vanity ones to cut.

Open template →Practice: Board Metrics Selection Lab

Crisis & decisions under pressure

Ransom Payment Decision Framework & Board Memo

OFAC screen, decision tree, authority matrix and a board-memo skeleton for the call.

Open template →Practice: The Ransom Decision (Board Edition)

Breach Crisis Communications Kit

Holding statement, customer notice, internal note, stakeholder matrix and a "never say" list.

Open template →Practice: Crisis Comms / Holding Statement Lab

Incident Escalation & Notification Matrix

Severity tiers, who gets paged, timeframes and the CEO/board trigger conditions.

Open template →Practice: Escalation Threshold Lab

APT / Nation-State Notification Board Brief

Brief the board on partial intelligence: what we know, actions underway, decisions needed.

Open template →Practice: Nation-State Notification Lab

Board Tabletop Exercise Facilitation Kit

A scenario, timed injects, role cards, a decision-capture sheet and an after-action report.

Open template →Practice: Tabletop Facilitation Lab

Governance, third-party & change

Third-Party Breach Response Playbook & Board Brief

Vendor-breach triage, contract levers, the customer-notification call and a board brief.

Open template →Practice: Vendor-Breach Board Response Lab

M&A Day-1 Security Integration Checklist

Pre-connect gates, isolate-first posture, inherited-risk triage and a 30/60/90 plan.

Open template →Practice: Day-1 Integration Security Lab

Cyber Regulatory Obligations Tracker

Map DORA, NIS2, SEC rules and privacy law to board obligations, deadlines and owners.

Open template →Practice: Regulatory Horizon Lab

Board AI Governance Policy (One-Page)

Use-case risk tiers, an approval workflow, data rules and board-oversight cadence.

Open template →Practice: AI Governance Board Lab

Business Impact Analysis & Resilience Board Summary

Critical-service inventory, impact over time, RTO/RPO targets and recovery-investment asks.

Open template →Practice: Operational Resilience / BIA Lab

TL;DR

What this library is

A free library of 20 board-ready cybersecurity templates — memos, policies, worksheets, checklists and frameworks a CISO can take straight into the boardroom.
Every template is browsable on the page, with one click to copy it or download it as Markdown, then adapt it in your own document. No signup, nothing uploaded.
Each template is paired with a free interactive decision lab, so you can practise the call the template documents — the materiality determination, the ransom vote, the escalation threshold.
Topics span disclosure and liability (SEC 8-K, Item 106, regulator prep), the money conversation (risk appetite, business case, insurance, metrics), crisis decisions (ransom, comms, escalation, nation-state), and governance (third-party, M&A, regulatory horizon, AI, resilience).
These are educational templates and decision drills, not legal advice — adapt them with qualified counsel for your jurisdiction and facts.

Frequently asked questions

What are the PlayCISO board & governance templates?

A free library of 20 board-ready cybersecurity artifacts — decision memos, policies, worksheets, checklists and frameworks aimed at the questions a CISO faces in front of a board or audit committee: materiality and disclosure, risk appetite, ransom decisions, incident escalation, cyber insurance, third-party breaches, M&A, AI governance and operational resilience. Each one is written to be copied into your own document and filled in.

Are they free, and do I need an account?

Yes, free, and no account is needed. Every template is fully readable on its page. A copy button puts the whole template on your clipboard and a download button saves it as a Markdown (.md) file you can open in any editor or doc tool. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is sent anywhere.

How are the templates different from the 25-template download library?

The existing /tools/templates library is a grid of downloadable policy and artefact files. This board & governance library is a set of individually browsable pages, each focused on a single board-level decision and paired with an interactive lab that lets you practise that decision and be graded on it.

Is this legal advice?

No. The templates and the paired labs are educational. Regulatory references (such as the SEC cybersecurity disclosure rules, OFAC sanctions screening, DORA or NIS2) are summarised for orientation and may change; always confirm the current requirements and adapt any template to your specific facts with qualified legal counsel.