CyberSecurity

Definition:

A documented strategy & set of procedures to ensure that critical business operations can continue — or recover quickly — during and after a disruption. 

Purpose:

• Minimize downtime & financial loss.

• Protect employees, customers & reputation.

• Comply with standards (e.g., ISO 22301 & NIST SP 800-34). 

Practices: 

Here are the 10 key steps for a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) — aligned with ISO 22301 & NIST SP 800-34:

1️⃣ Obtain Management Commitment
— Secure top management support, resources, and sponsorship.

2️⃣ Conduct Business Impact Analysis (BIA)
— Identify critical business functions, dependencies, and recovery priorities.

3️⃣ Perform Risk Assessment
— Assess threats, vulnerabilities, and likelihood of disruptions.

4️⃣ Define Recovery Strategies
— Develop alternatives and solutions to continue operations during and after disruptions.

5️⃣ Develop the Business Continuity Plan
— Document procedures, teams, contact lists, and action steps.

6️⃣ Establish Incident Response & Communication Plan
— Define how to respond to incidents and communicate with internal & external stakeholders.

7️⃣ Allocate Roles & Responsibilities
— Form dedicated teams with clear roles and escalation paths.

8️⃣ Train & Educate Employees
— Conduct awareness sessions and role-specific training.

9️⃣ Test, Exercise & Evaluate the Plan
— Regularly simulate scenarios to validate and improve the plan.

🔟 Maintain & Update the Plan
— Periodically review and update to reflect business and risk changes.

Practical guide for BCP:

• Disaster Recovery (DR)

  • • IT systems & data recovery

    • Restore servers & apps after a datacenter fire.

• Emergency Response Plan (ERP)

  • • Immediate safety & evacuation

    • Fire drills, active shooter, chemical spill response.

• Crisis Management Plan (CMP)

  • • Leadership decisions & PR

    • CEO & team manage a reputational crisis after a breach.

• Incident Response (IRP)

  • • Cybersecurity incidents

    • Detect, contain, and eradicate ransomware.

• IT Service Continuity (ITSC)

  • • Keeping IT services online

    • Switching to cloud failover during an outage.

• Pandemic/Health Response Plan

  • • Continuity during epidemics

    • Shifting to remote work during COVID-19.

• Work Area Recovery (WAR)

  • • Alternative workplaces

    • Renting temporary offices for staff after HQ floods.

• Data Backup & Restoration Plan

  • • Data integrity & availability

    • Daily backups to offsite/cloud & restore when needed.

• Supply Chain Continuity Plan

  • • Vendor/supplier resilience

    • Switching to backup suppliers when primary fails.

• Communication/Notification Plan

  • • Internal & external messaging

    • Notifying employees & regulators of an outage.