Security management Toolkit

Eight steps to being ready for disaster

Debra Young Tech Republic

Published: 27 Apr 2004 11:45 BST

According to Repsher, while employees are considered a company's greatest asset, they can also be its biggest threat. She cites statistics that indicate 80 percent of business disruptions are caused by employees, whether maliciously or accidentally. It could be deliberate sabotage, such as emailing a competitor your vendor list. Or it could be simple carelessness in leaving confidential company information at the shared printer for anyone to see. It's important to instill awareness into employees as to how their actions can impact and disrupt normal operations.

Physical plant security is another issue to consider. Does the physical security plan include instructions for contacting local fire, police, and rescue authorities? Do employees know where to report for work in case their usual facility is unavailable? Do you have technology in place to allow them to work from home? Can another facility provide space and resources in the event of a disaster at one location?

It's important to realise that it is neither possible nor cost effective to try to protect everything. You need to examine your operations and determine what you really need to survive. Can you fall back to data that's more than a week old? Or is it vital that certain information be backed up every two hours? How many employees need to be trained in redundant skills should another facility or department be put out of commission? In the wake of 9/11, there's been a lot of emphasis on worker recovery. But how vulnerable to drastic workforce reductions are you?

Step 7: Check that all your plan components sync with each other
To effectively respond to a business disruption, your business continuity plan needs to incorporate all the components required for your successful recovery: your data, your workforce, your facilities, your networks, even your vendors and suppliers. You must have procedures in place to ensure that events occur in the right sequence to get you back up and running as promptly as possible. It's a delicate balance, but a crucial one.

Repsher cites one company that had a dedicated recovery centre. But it took two weeks to pick, pull, pack, ship, and restage the 30,000 tapes needed for recovery. She observes that it doesn't help to have backup data with nowhere to restore it, or have a place to restore it but no way to connect to it. She recommends closely examining your recovery procedures to guarantee that all the elements of the plan truly work in sync with each other.

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It seems to me this is a burden being placed on the wrong shoulders. There is not an It system in the world that can stop an individual taking information in their heads and spewing out at the nearest undesirable third party.