Testing and Exercising your Business Continuity Plan

Your business continuity plan may be backed by good technology and written documentation, but unless it's brought out and tested every now and then, there is still a risk that everything may not work as it should when a real emergency does occur. Think of it as a parachute… you have to know you can trust it! The articles below can help you plan, prepare for, and conduct BC exercises.

An exercise’s effectiveness has a direct correlation to the amount of planning and preparation completed beforehand. (Item #1) If your exercise is not uncovering problems, you may not be doing it right. (Item #2) Things will get fairly hectic during a typical large-scale disaster recovery exercise. As an observer, what must you know? (Item #3)

Playing the role of an attacker can make your team better at defense. (Item #4) Looking for a good plot line for your next BCP exercise? (Item #5) There were a number of lessons learned in the three exercises described here. (Item #6)

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Identity Theft

According to the U.S. Dept. of Justice Statistics, identity theft is passing drug trafficking as the number one crime in the nation. The majority of ID theft criminals are repeat offenders. While there is a lot of variation in the cost of identity theft, one survey estimated that ID in 2005 cost business and consumers $56.6 billion. You may be able to avoid the costs of identity theft by following some of the best practices in this week’s articles.

Financial scams and incidents of medical identity theft are on the rise - and they're among the main threats to business and consumers in 2010. (Item #1) With ID theft on the rise, the onus is on those organizations and departments housing sensitive employee information to improve their data protection. (Item #2) The increase in identity theft has given rise to identity-theft insurance, but is such protection necessary? (Item #3)

How can companies ensure the integrity and security of sensitive customer and employee data? (Item #4) If it is designed and built correctly, your software could end up being one of your most effective countermeasures against most of the common attacks employed by hackers today. (Item #5) Safe information handling practices are critical to keep identifying information out of the hands of thieves. (Item #6)

The full issue is available at http://www.attainium.net/newsbriefs

Standards for Business Continuity Planning

The development of standards/regulation/regulatory guidance for business continuity management is a relatively new concept. Below we present information on some emerging and existing standards that may help you in the formulation of your business continuity plan.

ASIS Online has begun work to produce a Business Continuity Management (BCM) standard, for approval by ANSI. (Item #1) This case study focusing on BS 25999 shows how standards can help your business. (Item #2) BC program to meet the requirements of either the BS 25999 or the NFPA 1600 standards is an effective way to ensure that your program will have world class potential. (Item #3)

How long the U.S. and other countries with non-mandatory business continuity management standards will be able to voluntarily comply is up to market forces. (Item #4) Not exactly a standard, OSHA says, but guidance on planning for a pandemic. (Item #5) GLBA applies specifically to financial institutions, but its provisions already have been adopted by many types of companies in the private sector. (Item #6)


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Ready for Winter Weather

It’s important that your business, as well as your home and family, be prepared well in advance for the wide variety of dangerous conditions that winter storms and extreme weather can bring. This week’s articles focus on safety issues you, your employees and their families can put to use. Be safe!

Check out this winter hazards checklist. (Item #1) Do you know how to prepare for a winter storm before it hits? (Item #2) A worker safety consulting firm explains how companies can avoid being paralyzed by relentless winter storms. (Item #3)

We hope you never need this information, but here’s all you need to know about surviving a blizzard. (Item #4) Risks of winter weather are particularly bad for workers who have to be outside in all kinds of conditions. Items #5 and #6 provide safety tips for outdoor workers.

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Testing and Exercising

Disaster recovery plans are essential to business continuity, but these plans will lose value if they are not tested on a regular basis. Frequent testing leads to peace of mind. You can't wait until disaster strikes to find out if your plan will work. Testing is essential for disaster recovery success, and, a proactive test plan will reap benefits to the organization. Read this week’s articles for more on the importance of testing your business continuity/disaster recovery plans.

When your plan is complete, the work has only just begun. (Item #1) Effective plan testing is the topic of this article on best practices. (Item #2) What flaws could your test have missed? (Item #3)

Internal communication is a critical part of every plan and should be tested as well. (Item #4) Healthcare organizations have special concerns when testing plans. (Item #5) San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency had a real event during which to test their plan. (Item #6)

The full issue is available at http://www.attainium.net/newsbriefs