What is the goal of Disaster Recovery?
to minimize the effects of a disaster and to take the necessary steps to ensure that the resources, personnel, and business processes are able to resume operation in a timely manner. A disaster recovery plan is carried out when everything is still in emer
Continuity Planning
provides methods and procedures for dealing with longer-term outages and disaster.
Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
includes getting critical systems to another environment while repair of the original facilities is under way, getting the right people to the right places, and performing business in a different mode until regular conditions are back in place
What tasks should the BCP team carry out and have addressed in the resulting plan?
- Define essential business functions and supporting departments
- Identify interdependencies between these functions and departments
- Discover all possible disruptions that could affect the mechanisms necessary to allow these departments to function tog
NIST Steps for Business Continuity
1. Develop the continuity planning policy statement
2. Conduct the business impact analysis (BIA)
3. Identify preventive controls
4. Develop recovery strategies
5. Develop the contingency plan
6. Test the plan and conduct training and exercises
7. Maintai
What is the main reason to develop Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans?
reduce the risk of financial loss by improving the company's ability to recover and restore operations
What is the most critical part of establishing and maintaining a current continuity plan?
management support
Role of the Business Continuity Coordinator
lead the BCP team and oversee the development, implementation, and testing of the continuity and disaster recovery plans... this person needs to have direct access to management and have the credibility and authority to carry out leadership tasks
Who should be involved in the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans? In what part of the process?
representatives from at least each of the following departments must be involved with not only the planning stages but also the testing and implementation stages:
- Business Units
- Senior Management
- IT Department
- Security Department
- Communications
Continuity Planning Policy Statement
a document that lays out the scope of the BCP project, the team member roles, and the goals of the project. it outlines what needs to be accomplished after the team communicates with management and comes to agreement on the terms of the project
What are some components required for the project plan?
- Objective-to-task mapping
- Resource-to-task mapping
- Milestones
- Budget estimates
- Success factors
- Deadlines
Once the project plan is completed, what should be done before further steps are taken?
present it to management for written approval
Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
a functional analysis in which a team collects data through interviews, workshops, and documentary sources; documents business functions, activities, and transactions (maybe in a set of flow charts); develops a hierarchy of business functions; and finally
What are some of the characteristics you should look at when creating a BIA?
- Maximum tolerable downtime
- Operational disruption and productivity
- Financial considerations
- Regulatory responsibilities
- Reputation
What are the three main types of threats?
- Manmade: arsonist, terrorist, a simple mistake
- Natural: tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes
- Technical: data corruption, loss of power, device failure, or loss of a data communications line
What is one of the best ways to work through the details of a BIA?
use scenario-based exercises as a group to see what issues might crop up
What are the steps of a BIA?
1. Select individuals to interview for data gathering
2. Create data-gathering techniques (surveys, questionnaires, qualitative and quantitative approaches)
3. Identify the company's critical business functions
4. Identify the resources these functions de
What are loss criteria that can be applied to individual threats that were identified in the BIA?
- Loss in reputation and public confidence
- Loss of competitive advantages
- Increase in operational expenses
- Violations of contract agreements
- Violations of legal and regulatory requirements
- Delayed income costs
- Loss in revenue
- Loss in product
What are some of the resources that would be required for individual business processes?
- Computer systems
- Personnel
- Procedures
- Tasks
- Supplies
- Vendor support
Maximum Tolerable Downtime (MTD)
the outage time that can be endured by a company
Service Level Agreement (SLA)
a promise that a service will be fulfilled within a certain timeframe
What is the main goal of business continuity?
to resume business as quickly as possible, spending the least amount of money
Why do you need a combination of consultants and employees on the BCP team?
Consultants are experts in the field and know the necessary steps, questions to ask, and issues to look for, and they can also offer general reasonable advice. In-house employees know their company intimately and have a full understanding of how certain t
What are management's responsibilities with regards to BCP planning?
- Committing fully to the BCP
- Setting policy and goals
- Making available the necessary funds and resources
- Taking responsibility for the outcome of the development of the BCP
- Appointing a team for the process
What are the BCP team's responsibilities with regards to BCP planning?
- Identifying regulatory and legal requirements that must be met
- Identifying all possible vulnerabilities and threats
- Estimating the possibilities of these threats and the loss potential
- Performing a BIA
- Outlining which departments, systems, and p
What format does management want to see in the BCP?
they want information stated in monetary, quantitative terms, not in subjective, qualitative terms.
What are some appropriate and cost-effective preventative methods to better fortify a company from the impacts recognized in the BIA?
fortification of the facility in its construction materials, redundant servers and communications links, power lines coming in through different transformers, redundant vendor support, purchasing of insurance, purchasing of UPS and generators, data backup
What should the BCP team do in the recovery strategy stage?
it has to figure out what the company needs to do to actually recover the items it has identified as being so important to the organization overall... the BIA provides the footprint
What is the difference between preventive mechanisms and recovery strategies?
- Preventive mechanisms are put into place to try to reduce the possibility of the company experiencing a disaster and, if a disaster does hit, to lessen the amount of damage that will take place
- Recovery strategies are processes on how to rescue the co
How should a team break down recovery strategies?
- Business process recovery
- Facility recovery
- Supply and technology recovery
- User environment recovery
- Data recovery
Business Process
a set of interrelated steps linked through specific decision activities to accomplish a specific task... business processes have starting and ending points and are repeatable
What does the BCP team need to understand about critical business processes?
- Required roles
- Required resources
- Input and output mechanisms
- Workflow steps
- Required time for completion
- How they interface with other processes
What are the three types of disruptions that a facility can have and what does each mean?
- Nondisaster: a disruption in service due to a device malfunction or failure
- Disaster: an event that causes the entire facility to be unusable for a day or longer
- Catastrophe: a major disruption that destroys the facility altogether --> requires both
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
the estimated lifetime of a piece of equipment... calculated by the vendor of the equipment or a third party
Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
an estimate of how long it will take to fix a piece of equipment and get it back into production
How are offsite backup facility contracts usually established?
the client pays a monthly fee to retain the right to use the facility in a time of need and then incurs a large activation fee when the facility actually has to be used... most recovery site contracts do not promise to house the company in need at a speci
What are the three main types of leased or rented offsite facilities?
- Hot Site
- Warm Site
- Colde Site
Hot Site
a facility that is leased or rented and is fully configured and ready to operate within a few hours... the only missing resources are usually the data, which will be retrieved from a backup site, and the people who are processing the data. The equipment a
Warm Site
a leased or rented facility that usually partially configured with some equipment (peripheral devices), but not the actual computers... it's usually a hot site without the expensive equipment. This is the most widely-used model... it is less expensive tha
Cold Site
A leased or rented facility that supplies the basic environment, electrical wiring, air conditioning, plumbing and flooring, but none of the equipment or additional services. It may take weeks to get the site activated and ready for work. This is the leas
Reciprocal Agreement (Mutual Aid)
company A agrees to allow company B to use its facilities if company B is hit by a disaster, and vice versa. This is a cheaper way to go than the other offsite choices, but is not always the best choice because most environments are maxed out pertaining t
As a general rule of thumb, how far away should a backup facility be from the main facility?
it should be far enough away from the original site so one disaster does not take out both locations... alternate facilities should be at a bare minimum at least five miles away from the primary site, while 15 miles is recommended for most low-to-medium c
Redundant Site
one site is equipped and configured exactly like the primary site, which serves as a redundant environment. these sites are owned by the company and are mirrors of the original production environment... this is one of the most expensive backup facility op
Rolling Hot Site (Mobile Hot Site)
a type of facility-backup option where the back of a large truck or a trailer is turned into a data processing or working area (typically used by military organizations and large insurance companies)
What are some of the things you have to consider when it comes to supply and tech recovery?
- Network and computer equipment
- Voice and data communications resources
- Human Resources
- Transportation of equipment and personnel
- Environment issues (HVAC)
- Data and personnel security issues
- Supplies (paper, forms, cabling, and so on)
- Docum
What is one of the big issues with VoIP and disaster recovery?
When the power goes on the computers, it's also going to go out for the phones
What is one of the big issues with legacy equipment and disaster recovery?
There is more risk for the organization because replacement systems won't be available... that's why many organizations have moved to commercial off the shelf (COTS) products. they want to make sure replacement is possible
In terms of software backups, what should your BCP team address?
They should make sure there are at least two copies of the company's operating system and critical applications
What should an organization do to assure that they will always be able to get some kind of support for their specialized and critical applications (even in the event that the software vendor goes out of business)?
Since the software vendor provides its customers with only the compiled version of its applications, it's difficult for the customer to continue to use it if the vendor goes out of business. So the customer should set up a Software Escrow agreement, meani
Calling Tree
a document that outlines who should be contacted in the event of a disaster, in what order, and who is responsible for doing the calling
How should a company, during the BIA phase, find out what the risks of its geographical location are? And how should they find out how to access emergency zones?
contact the local authorities
Where should the business continuity and disaster recovery plans be stored when they're completed?
typically a copy is stored at the BCP coordinator's home, and another copy is stored at the offsite facility... when they are stored offsite, they need to be stored in a way that provides just as much protection as the primary site would provide
Executive Succession Planning
the plans that determine the steps needed to protect the company in the event that a senior executive retires, leaves the company, or is killed. also details the people who would step in and assume responsibility
Skeleton Crew
the employees who carry out the most critical functions of the company who must be put back to work first
Should the BCP team be responsible for setting up and maintaining the company's data classification procedures?
No, but the team may recognize that the company is at risk because it does not have these procedures in place
How do we know which data have changed and need to be backed up without having to look at every file's modification date?
the file system sets the archive bit of the file to 1 when a file is modified or created
Full Backup
all data are backed up and saved to some type of storage media. backup and restoration processes are very simplistic and straightforward with this method
Differential Backup
back up the files that have been modified since the LAST FULL BACKUP. this process does not change the archive bit value
Incremental Backup
backup all the files that have changed since the last full or incremental backup. this process sets the archive bit to 0
What are the benefits of using the Differential or Incremental backup methods?
it requires less resources and time
Disk Duplexing
there is more than one disk controller, so if one fails, the other is ready and available
Disk Shadowing
data are dynamically created and maintained as images on two or more identical disks. this method is used to ensure the availability of data and to provide a fault-tolerant solution by duplicating hardware and maintaining more than one copy of the informa
Disk Mirroring
each disk would have a corresponding mirrored disk that contains the exact same information
Electronic Vaulting
makes copies of files as they are modified and periodically transmits them to an offsite backup site. The transmission doesn't happen in real time but is carried out in batches
Remote Journaling
a method of transmitting data offsite, but it usually only includes moving the journal or transaction logs to the offsite facility, not the actual files. these logs contain the changes that have taken place to the individual files. Journaling is efficient
Especially in a software development environment, what should be backed up?
- object code
- source code
- libraries
- patches and fixes
Tape Vaulting
backing up business data to tapes that are then manually transferred to an offsite facility by a courier or an employee... with automatic tape vaulting, the data are sent over a serial line to a backup tape system at the offsite facility. Electronic autom
Asynchronous Replication
the primary and secondary data volumes are only a few milliseconds out of sync, so the replication is nearly real-time
Synchronous Replication
the primary and secondary copies are always in sync, which provides true real-time duplication
Where does the Recovery Time Objective sit on a chart that keeps track of cost and time?
at the intersection of the cost of disruption and the cost to recover
Why does Insurance exist?
it's used when threats are identified that cannot be prevented. Taking on the full risk of these threats is often dangerous
How do you determine how much coverage to obtain?
base it off of the probability of the threat becoming real and the loss potential. the goal is to make sure the insurance coverage fills in the gap of what the current preventative countermeasures cannot protect against
Cyberinsurance
a new type of coverage that insures losses caused by denial-of-service attacks, malware damages, hackers, electronic theft, privacy-related lawsuits and more
Business Interruption Insurance
a type of policy in which the insurance company will pay for specified expenses and lost earnings in the event that a company is forced out of business for a certain length of time. another policy can be bought that insures accounts receivable, so if a co
How frequently should a company's insurance be reviewed?
annually
What is the main limitation of insurance coverage?
if the company does not practice due care, the insurance company may not be legally obligated to pay if a disaster hits... this is why it's important to read and understand the fine print
What are some examples of teams a company may need to construct, train, and have available in the event of a disaster?
damage assessment team, legal team, media relations team, network recovery team, relocation team, restoration team, salvage team, security team, telecommunications team
Restoration Team
responsible for getting the alternate site into a working and functioning environment. Needs to know how to install OSes, configure workstations and servers, string wiring and cabling, set up the network and configure networking services, and install equi
Salvage Team
responsible for starting the recovery of the original site. Needs to know how to install OSes, configure workstations and servers, string wiring and cabling, set up the network and configure networking services, and install equipment and applications
Damage Assessment Team
- Determines the cause of the disaster
- Determines the potential for further damage
- Identifies the affected business functions and areas
- Identifies the level of functionality for the critical resources
- Identifies the resources that must be replaced
When should a Damage Assessment Team change into Recovery mode?
- When it detects danger to human life
- When it detects danger to state or national security
- When it detects damage to the facility
- When it detects damage to critical systems
Reconstitution Phase
when it is time for the company to move back into its original site or a new site
What issues does a company need to look at when determining when it should move into Reconstitution Phase?
- It needs to ensure the safety of employees
- It needs to ensure an adequate environment is provided (power, facility infrastructure, water, HVAC)
- It needs to ensure that the necessary equipment and supplies are present and in working order
- It needs
What functions should be moved back first during the Reconstitution Phase?
the least critical functions... it ensures that the critical operations of the company are not negatively affected
What information should a BCP and DR goal contain?
- Responsibility: each individual involved should have their responsibilities spelled out in writing and the tasks should be assigned to the individual most situated to handle it
- Authority: you need to know what leaders are going to step up to the plate
If a company loses computing capabilities for a week, what is the chance they will go out of business (on average)?
65%
What is the general structure of a BCP?
1. Initiation Phase: goal statements, overview of concepts, roles and teams definitions, task definitions
2. Activation Phase: notification steps, damage assessment, plan activation
3. Recovery Phase: move to alternate site, restore processes, recovery pr
What are the different types of recovery plans?
- Business Resumption Plan
- Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)
- IT Contingency Plan
- Crisis Communications Plan
- Cyber Incident Response Plan
- Disaster Recovery Plan
Business Resumption Plan
focuses on how to re-create the necessary business processes that need to be reestablished instead of focusing on IT components
Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP)
establishes senior management and a headquarters after a disaster. outlines roles and authorities, orders of succession, and individual role tasks
IT Contingency Plan
plan for systems, networks, and major applications recovery procedures after disruptions. a contingency plan should be developed for each major system and application
Crisis Communications Plan
includes internal and external communications structure and roles. identifies specific individuals who will communicate with external entities. contains predeveloped statements that are to be released
Cyber Incident Response Plan
focuses on malware, hackers, intrusions, attacks, and other security issues. outlines procedures for incident response
Disaster Recovery Plan
focuses on how to recover various IT mechanisms after a disaster. whereas a contingency plan is usually for nondisasters, a disaster recover plan is for disasters that require IT processing to take place at another facility
Occupant Emergency Plan
establishes personnel safety and evacuation procedures
At what point can a company have real confidence in a developed plan?
after it has been tested
Checklist Test (Deckcheck Test)
copies of the BCP are distributed to the different departments and functional areas for review
Structured Walk-Through Test
representatives from each department or functional area come together to over the plan to ensure its accuracy
Simulation Test
all employees who participate in operational and support functions, or their representatives, come together to practice executing the disaster recovery plan based on a specific scenario. the scenario is used to test the reaction of each operational and su
Parallel Test
done to ensure that the specific systems can actually perform adequately at the alternate offsite facility. some systems are moved to the alternate site and processing takes place. the results are compared with the regular processing that is done at the o
Full-Interruption Test
the most intrusive test to regular operations and business productivity. the original site is shut down, and processing takes place at the alternate site. this test takes a lot of planning and coordination but it can reveal many holes in the plan. full-in
Emergency Response Procedures
prepared actions that are developed to help people in a crisis situation better cope with the disruption. Protection of life is of the utmost importance and should be dealt with first before looking to save material objects!
Who should be responsible for notifying the appropriate authorities and who would those authorities be?
One person should be responsible... the authorities are the police department, security guards, fire department, emergency rescue, and management
When should a company be prepared to interface with the press, customers, shareholders, and civic officials after a crisis?
before too many people come to their own conclusions about the company and begin to start false rumors
What are some reasons why BCPs become outdated?
- the business continuity process isn't integrated into the change management process
- infrastructure and environment changes occur
- reorganization of the company, layoffs, or mergers occur
- changes in hardware, software, and applications occur
- after
How can an organization keep the BCP up to date?
- Make business continuity a part of every business decision
- Insert the maintenance responsibilities into job description
- Include maintenance in personnel evaluations
- Perform internal audits that include disaster recovery and continuity documentatio