Information Technology Disaster Recovery Plan

Introduction

Bank of America has experienced data breaches in the past, necessitating the creation of a robust disaster recovery plan that will enable the business to minimize financial losses associated with unplanned events. The plan will also allow businesses to resume their normal operations within short durations (Wey, 2019). The bank recently suffered from a data breach involving the customer’s financial information, personal address details, and social numbers. The attackers used the financial software provider system to access the system. The financial software provided notified the bank within the required timeline, which responded by giving identity theft protection to the affected clients. The bank management decided to create a disaster recovery plan to mitigate the impact of such risks in the future. The bank risk manager was to retain a copy of the plan, and the other copy was stored in the department headquarters for easier retrieval if an unplanned occurrence happened.

Scope

The entity created the disaster recovery plan to protect employees and customer data from malicious entities. The plan would also enable the entity to resume normal operations immediately after the interruptions (Mosteanu, 2020). The managers should test the recovery plan before identifying weaknesses and initiate strategies that can help recover the critical systems after the occurrence of a risk. The plan also needs to consider the number of individuals a disaster might affect after its occurrence. The disaster recovery plan considers all the data breaches that happen on the premises of Bank of America and impact the performance of the entity or the company’s reputation.

Assumption 

The entity creating the disaster recovery plan assumes the business can only resume normal operations after a given timeline. The plan managers also believe the industry will apply alternative strategies to recover from a data breach that might affect the enterprise’s operations (Sowby, 2020). The company has an alternative intact data backup system to aid in storing crucial data after the disaster to enable the business to resume normal operations. The entity also assumes that the company has a service agreement that dictates how the enterprise should execute the emergency recovery system.

Definitions

The firm needs to clearly define all the terms used in creating and implementing the recovery plan. An entity with a clear definition of all the terms used in the recovery plan will have better strategies for mitigating the risks associated with data breaches to ensure the business resumes normal operations and no financial losses (Eggers, 2020). The firm also gets a clear insight into the plan and the approaches to executing the process.

Terminologies used in a disaster recovery plan

Disaster

A disaster in information technology refers to events that affect the data storage and retrieval system. Disaster in IT entails loss of data stored in emails, issues relating to the use of websites, failure of the software used in storing data, and other occurrence that affect business operations (Wey, 2019). A disaster relating to data occurs after malicious individuals try to gain access to the system using forbidden approaches.

Disaster recovery

Disaster recovery refers to trying to fix the issues affecting your system to resume normal operations. An organization involved in recovery needs to restore its system to resume normal operations (Mosteanu, 2020).

Disaster recovery plan

A disaster recovery plan refers to a plan that entities have in place that will help the business regain its normal operations after the occurrence of a risk. The plan gives information on the role of each team member and the expectations of all stakeholders after the occurrence of an unplanned event (Sowby, 2020). The plan also shows all the materials required when dealing with various issues and the location where an entity can acquire the materials.

Disaster recovery team

The disaster recovery team refers to all individuals responsible for returning to normalcy after the occurrence of a risk. An organization needs to have its details and the roles it should pray for before, during, and after the occurrence of a risk (Wey, 2019). An organization can have employees and other external experts bring the necessary skills to help deal with the risks.

Data recovery

Data recovery refers to the process of restoring all the data lost after the occurrence of a risk. An entity should have individuals with relevant skills to assist in recovering valuable data lost after a disaster (Sowby, 2020).

Alert

Alert entails reporting that an occurrence has happened so that the team members can undertake relevant steps to deal with the challenges (Eggers, 2020).

Backup

Back refers to storing or copying stored data to another form for use and retrieval after the occurrence of a risk. The approach helps businesses regain important information lost after a disaster (Mosteanu, 2020).

Disaster recovery Team members

A business has different team members that aid in creating and implementing a disaster recovery plan to ensure the business resumes operation after the risk. The individuals should work harmoniously to make it easier for the firm to regain normal operations (Wey, 2019). A business has different team members with varying responsibilities depending on their skills and knowledge. The firm needs to have information about their roles and contact details in case of the occurrence. Incident command team

The group plans and responds to all disasters that affect the business.

Incident command team

2. Recovery team

Recovery preparations

A business needs to have a straightforward outline approach to recovering all the data lost after the occurrence of a risk.

Data recovery information and central data center and server recovery information

A firm starts with identifying all the information lost after the occurrence of a risk. The business concentrates on restoring lost information and availing inaccessible data. The firm then focuses on retrieving all the data stored in the data center and server lost after the disaster (Wey, 2019).

Network and telecommunication, application recovery, and desktop equipment recovery information

The organization needs to have a network and telecommunication recovery plan that will help deal with the disruption in operations brought about by a risk. The firm has to have a recovery plan that the experts need to text to ascertain its effectiveness in dealing with various risks (Mosteanu, 2020). The business should then execute the application and desktop recovery plan to check on the extent of damage to critical facilities and software used to mitigate the risk’s impact.

Disaster recovery processes and procedures

A firm needs to have clearly outlined procedures that show the techniques an entity will use to mitigate the impact of risk and ensure a business resumes its operations. A firm follows different methods to determine the business’s actions in dealing with unplanned occurrences (Sowby, 2020).

Emergency response

At this stage, the firm should consider the situation and decide how to deal with the disaster. The plan needs to dictate emergency measures that can help minimize losses (Mosteanu, 2020). The business also needs to verify safe routes to deal with risks to business operations.

Incident command and disaster recovery teams

The team should inform all stakeholders about the project’s happenings. The members also need to create smooth communication between all stakeholders involved in the project for smooth operations (Wey, 2019). The disaster recovery team is responsible for restoring essential services quickly. The members should also establish facilities to deal with emergencies that occur due to the risk within short durations.

General system/application recovery procedures

After resuming part of its data lost through data breaches, the firm should concentrate on recovering all the information. The business can carry out synchronous, asynchronous replication, and mixed techniques to minimize recovery time and enable smooth operations even after the risk occurrence (Sowby, 2020).

Network and telecommunication recovery guidelines

The organization needs a working network and telecommunication plan to cater to all the challenges businesses suffer after a risk. The firm should then test the plan to identify its weaknesses, rectify them, and deal with all the challenges affecting business operations (Mosteanu, 2020). The organization also needs to create data backups to make it easy to retrieve the data the business loses after the occurrence of a disaster. The industry needs to prioritize the system it will deal with after the occurrence of a risk, depending on how critical the area is to the company’s running.

Information technology priority table

Individuals should also get a signoff sheet showing whether individuals have information on their roles when dealing with various risks that affect business operations.

Recovery signoff sheet

Conclusion 

Businesses need to have precise and elaborate disaster recovery plans to effectively deal with all the risks that might affect the running of an organization. Entities with a plan can resume their regular operation within a short duration and will not suffer from significant financial losses associated with the occurrence of a disaster. Individuals should keep the plan well for easier retrieval when a risk occurs to mitigate its effect on business operations.

References

Eggers, F. (2020). Masters of disasters? Challenges and opportunities for SMEs in times of crisis. Journal of business Research, 116, 199-208.

Moşteanu, D. N. R. (2020). Management of disaster and business continuity in a digital world. International Journal of Management, 11(4).

Sowby, R. B. (2020). Emergency preparedness after COVID-19: A review of policy statements in the US water sector. Utilities policy, 64, 101058.

WEY, L. A. (2019). DISASTER RECOVERY DATABASE BACKUP SYSTEM MODEL AND BANKS’SURVIVAL (A CASE STUDY OF ZENITH BANK PLC).