Information Security and Disaster Recovery : How to Protect Your Business From Mother Nature

For many businesses, large or small, technology has been proven to boost productivity and make processing information easier and easier. And for many businesses, this reliance on tech can make facing a natural disaster a rude awakening.

Average Disaster Recovery Comix

In Florida, where our main headquarters is located, these natural disasters usually consist of category 3+ hurricanes with a small chance of flooding in a moments notice – giving us the “incentive” to take our information security and disaster recovery seriously. Wherever your from, however, this type of planning can save your business’ time, money, and even its life. Here are some things you should keep in mind:

1) As always, the key focus here is to develop a contingency plan. This plan should not only detail what management personnel should do in the case of an emergency but how and when. For a reference guide in making such a contingency plan, check out the N.I.S.T. and their whitepaper Special Publication 800-34 detailing what a business should do before the cost of downtime outweighs the cost to recover.

2) Whatever Disaster Recovery Plan you come up with, remember: always assess the dangers that may occur in your geographical area. This involves stepping back and determining the protection your company needs from an external and internal viewpoint. Always weigh the benefits of having a strong insurance policy and determine where pricey tech should be located. For example, a business within a heavily flooded area would think twice before placing their server room in their office’s basement just as a business with frequent blackouts would invest in consistent backup logs and generators.

3) In some cases, even the best of planners cannot foresee a disaster that could cripple or maim business operations. In these instances, however, you can still take precautionary measures to secure and recover your equipment until events have passed. In the case of a large-scale disaster, plan a business strategy that will determine if and when you can get back up and running – this involves letting your clients know if their services will or will not continue. Also, plan an alternate site location for your tech to be stored and secured – both from the elements and looters who can often take advantage of disabled and vulnerable businesses.

Bad Disaster Recovery Plan Comix

4) Above all else, make sure your employees have adequate preparation in the case of a disaster. Many businesses often overlook their workforce in times of plenty, but when all else fails, your employees can be the ones to bring your business back to its feet. Employ safety guidelines and develop a handbook especially in routine seasons when storms and temperature changes increase. All the effort you put into protecting your employees and your resources is what makes your business stronger and disaster recovery much more efficient.

For 4 Corner IT support pertaining to disaster recovery, check out our disaster recovery services page or contact us to talk to one of our business and technical administrators.

Backup and Disaster Recovery: Security of Your Business

backup and disaster recovery essential to the security of your business

Every business knows the importance of backup and disaster recovery. But what do they really do to prepare for the event of a possible disaster or shutdown of their business?

Will files be safe from theft and damage in such a situation? How will you protect your customers from compromising their vital information? Here are a few ways you can keep information safe in the event of a disaster:

Have an Emergency Disaster Plan

 This is the most obvious thing that needs to be done and to have in place, to prepare for a possible disaster. But amazingly, it is a detail many SMB businesses leave out. While they may have a general idea as to what they will do in the event of a disaster, they have no specific plan for recovery and backup that will be sufficient to retrieve vital information in the event of a shutdown or disaster.

Consider Cloud Storage for Secure Backups

 One of the best things you can do is to store critical data on a server that can not be infiltrated by hackers or damaged in the physical world. By employing the use of cloud storage devices and drives, your data will be safe, even if the physical building in which your business resides is damaged or destroyed.

Designate Specific People for Certain Recovery Jobs

 By planning ahead for possible problems, and designating specific staff members for specific tasks, you can rest assured that people will know what to do in the event a crisis occurs. Just as people have a plan in place for their homes in the event of a fire or earthquake, there should be a similar plan in place for businesses in the event of such a disaster.

Consider Down Time and Plan Accordingly

 While you do not know how much down time will occur in the event of a shutdown of your business, it is important to consider the amount of manpower and money that will be lost or wasted due to the down time of your business during this critical time. Have a financial reserve in place to accommodate this, in case this occurs.

Get Advice from Experts

 The best way to make sure that you have what you need in place is to solicit the help of security experts who deal with backup and disaster recovery on a regular basis. They can help you put a disaster recovery plan in place, so that you will know your data and your business will be secure, in the event of a disaster.

In the end, what you should do is to assess. Assess the potential for a disaster in your area.

  • Do you live in a hurricane area?
  • Do earthquakes occur often in your location?
  • Are there risks in your specific corner of the world that put your business at risk?

There is risk enough in the world no matter where you are. But it is important to assess your particular risk and then decide what steps you should take to keep your business safe.

For more information on how we can help you achieve this, contact us.

Digital Doomsday

a mushroom like structure is in the middle of a city

While it would be easy to write, this is not another article about the importance of anti-virus and security. The threats that lurk on the Internet have been well-communicated over the years. Connecting an unprotected computer to the Internet or to an  office network is digital Russian roulette. It is critical to have each inter-connected computer up-to-date with anti-virus software. Maintaining updated computer and antivirus software helps to protect you from 1,000s of online threats including… DOOMSDAY!

Digital Doomsday is July 9, 2012. Before stockpiling food and water it is important to understand the history of Digital Doomsday. The story behind Digital Doomsday reads like a modern day spy story.

In late 2011, the FBI – working in coordination with international authorities – arrested six people responsible for creating and distributing a new Trojan/virus named DNS changer. Unfortunately, the group was very successful in spreading this virus globally to more than 100 countries and possibly millions of computer systems. This virus changed computer DNS settings – the settings which guide you on the Internet – on each infected computer system. This group used the changed settings to direct the computers to their own systems. Instead of using good, reliable settings to lookup technical information on the Internet, the  infected computer used the “bad” settings to search. The “bad” settings directed people to incorrect web pages and many less-than-desirable locations on the Internet. This one little change means an infected computer system can be mis-directed to anywhere the cyber criminals desire.

Once the criminals were in custody, the FBI came up with a plan to help temporarily fix the situation. The “bad”
servers providing DNS were converted to “good” servers. This conversion meant that the correct, validated information was being sent and received across the Internet. Websites were connecting and computers were communicating properly.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. Effective July 9, 2012, the “good’ replacement servers are scheduled to
be taken offline. That means each infected computer will no longer be able to find or connect to ANYTHING on the Internet. Essentially, it will be an Internet blackout on each computer system that has been infected. The key is to understand the problem and to take the necessary steps now – should a system be infected – by correcting the DNS settings. You don’t want to be taken by surprise on your home computer system and find yourself in an Internet black hole next month. Some resources are listed below about the DNS changer and Digital Doomsday. – Jeff Eisenhower, Director of Technical Services