Each year, cybercriminals become emboldened in their cybersecurity attacks on unsuspecting businesses. Security breaches are occurring more frequently now than ever before. They are also becoming increasingly more complex and severe than the last. Security Magazine states “…business losses attributed to cybercrime totaled more than $2 trillion in 2019.” The publication also asserts that even if businesses take all of the right steps to protect their data from security breaches, the possibility still exists that they will be victims of a security breach. Therefore, businesses must be prepared by knowing in advance what they need to do if (or when) one occurs. Unfortunately, data breaches are here to stay. While cybersecurity protection companies wage war against cybercriminals, companies must take the proper steps to ensure they are doing everything they can to protect themselves.
A company’s ability to recover from the far-reaching, adverse impacts of cybersecurity attacks is fundamental. The key to ensuring that businesses are prepared is that they have a Business Continuity (BC) Plan and a Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan. Businesses must develop and be prepared to implement these plans when a cybersecurity incident has occurred.
The most widely reported result of security breaches is data that has been rendered unusable. Hardware or hardware components, which are essential to business operations, may also be adversely impacted. In order to mitigate these risks, it is very important to have a disaster recovery plan that allows for impaired data to be recovered. Data recovery allows businesses to recover from interruptions to data access, software or systems. Events can also include disrupted business operations due to power outages or incidents resulting in server connection issues. The objective of a Disaster Recovery Plan is to restore normal operations to a business as quickly as possible.
A good data recovery plan, which is one component of a Disaster Recovery Plan, can consist of multiple methods of backing up data – such as a cloud-based solution, manual data storage alternative or remote backup of data. Cloud-based backup processes can be performed automatically without having to locate any physical equipment. Because manual data storage solutions are offline, they do not run the risk of being adversely impacted by systems infected by ransomware or other malware attacks. If a remote backup of data is available, once the data has been reformatted and corrupted hard drives have been sanitized, the data could be restored from the backup source.
Another option for restoring compromised capabilities or services due to a cybersecurity incident is installing software with recovery options. This type of software includes a System Recovery Options menu which contains several tools that can help restore the system to its original condition or, at a minimum, back to its last restore point.
There are some steps that businesses can take to establish an effective Disaster Recovery Plan:
(1) Create a list of all of IT assets that the company has and a list of the data that is stored on each;
(2) Streamline the data that is to be backed up by determining the data that is necessary versus the data that is not needed;
(3) Ensure that all employees know their role and what they need to do in the event of an emergency;
(4) Establish critical recovery goals, such as recovery point (the amount of data that could potentially be lost during recovery efforts) and recovery time (the length of time it will take for the business to be restored to normal operations); and
(5) Determine the right remote data storage plan for your business.
Although a Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan are not the same, they are both invaluable to companies. The Business Continuity Plan outlines steps to ensure that the main products and services remain available to customers. On the other hand, the Disaster Recovery Plan clearly lists specific actions to recover the company’s required technology after a disaster has occurred. Companies should invest in both plans to ensure resilience in mitigating the adverse effects of disasters of all types.
Need help establishing your business’ Continuity Plan or Disaster Recovery Plan? Contact CMIT Solutions of South Nassau to get the conversation started.
