Which type of exercise is used to identify a specific objective and determine whether all parties involved in the response know what to do and how to work together to complete the exercise?

The correct choice is the tabletop exercise, which is a discussion-based session where team members gather to talk through their roles and responses to a simulated emergency situation. This type of exercise allows participants to walk through the entire incident response process in a low-stakes environment, promoting an understanding of their specific objectives and interactions with other parties involved. It is particularly effective for testing the efficacy of existing plans and understanding communication flows.

In a tabletop exercise, participants can clarify their responsibilities, identify potential gaps in the response plan, and foster teamwork, as they must work collaboratively to navigate the scenario. This setting is less about physical action and more about the strategic and operational discussions that help refine incident response plans.

Other options do not fulfill the same purpose. A walk-through generally involves a more practical demonstration of processes rather than a discussion of objectives. A checklist is more focused on ensuring tasks are completed and does not engage team collaboration or problem-solving deeply. Active failover refers to a technical process in information technology for transferring operations from a primary system to a backup, which is not a method for exercising response strategies. Thus, a tabletop exercise is specifically designed to achieve the goal of confirming knowledge and collaboration among response parties.