Do you need help & advice with Cybersecurity?
Many business leaders think they’re safe because they have backups or a recovery plan. But here’s the thing: have these plans ever actually been tested? It’s a question that often gets a "no," and that could be a massive problem when disaster strikes.
Why Testing Your Recovery Plan Matters
When a ransomware attack hits, or any serious cyber incident occurs, the clock starts ticking. You need to know exactly how long it will take to get back up and running. Most teams don’t have a clear answer. They don’t know who to call first, or even where to find their insurance details. Think about the M&S cyberattack – it cost them a staggering £300 million and months of disruption. That’s a stark reminder that having a plan isn’t enough; it needs to be a tested plan.
Key Takeaways
- Test your backups and recovery plans regularly. Don’t assume they work.
- Know your recovery time. How long will it realistically take to restore operations?
- Have contact details and insurance information readily available.
- Ensure backups are immutable – meaning hackers can’t delete or block them.
- Consider a tabletop exercise to walk through recovery scenarios.
- Document key information like network diagrams and server roles.
- A tested plan improves security, compliance, and business resilience.
The Reality of Backups
So, you have backups, right? Great. But are they actually usable? Some companies back up to tape every night, but no one ever checks if the tapes work or tries restoring data from them. Others rely on cloud backups, which sounds good until you realise it could take six months just to download all your data again. It’s a time-consuming and sometimes expensive task for your IT team, but trying to work through the recovery process, even just on paper or a "tabletop" basis, is incredibly important.
What happens if you need to restore a domain controller? What’s the actual process? If you face a ransomware attack, you’ll likely have to rebuild everything from scratch. Having a clear, tested process will speed things up massively. I’ve seen cases where just finding the right information to understand what’s going on can take days. There was one instance where a backup recovery key was lost because it wasn’t in the password database – thankfully, there was another copy of the data, but it highlighted how vital it is to test these things.
Building a Practical Incident Plan
Your incident plan shouldn’t be pages and pages of jargon. It needs to be practical. Who are the key people? What are their mobile numbers? Are they on WhatsApp? What are your insurance details, and who do you call first? What’s the process for communicating what’s happening, both internally and externally? Who is in charge of sending out messages?
Briefly planning out all of this can make a huge difference when you’re under pressure. Think about things like network diagrams, IP addresses, which servers do what, and in what order you need to restore them. How long will it take to download data, considering potential corruption? How will you communicate with your team if they can’t access email or your usual communication channels?
The Benefits of Being Prepared
Considering all these points in advance puts your business in a much stronger position. When you’re bidding for contracts, especially government work, having these plans in place makes you a more attractive prospect. It can also lead to cheaper insurance premiums. Ultimately, a well-tested recovery plan significantly reduces the risk of losing your business to a ransomware attack. If you have questions or want to chat about how technology can make your business more profitable and secure, feel free to reach out.
