A security crisis can make or break your enterprise. Most crises are unexpected and, unfortunately for most businesses, a crisis almost always finds them unprepared. There are natural disasters (i.e. floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires), man-made disasters (i.e. World Trade Center terrorist attacks) or technology malfunction (i.e. Hackers, failed power grid or network down). In fact, a crisis can strike a business in so many different ways that it’s not a question of if but when and how a security crisis will occur. Here are 5 crisis prevention tips for your business:
Conduct a Business Impact Analysis (BIA). This will identify the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your business and assign a dollar figure to their impact on your bottom line.
Identify Preventative Measures. Assemble a team that would work through the various available options ranging from onsite/offsite backup, reciprocal agreements with other companies, technical recovery personnel and alternative sites for moving business operations in case of a natural disaster.
Select specific recovery strategies geared to the different parts of your business. For example, the mission critical areas will have a shorter maximum tolerable downtime than say back office operations so in the event of an emergency, they need to be given priority.
Document findings in a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that defines how your business will operate during a security crisis. Select a business continuity coordinator to take ownership and assign authority to the different roles indicated in the plan.
Run a practice drill of the plan at least once a year. Think of it as a mini-business fire drill. Because when an actual crisis hits, it’s way too late to find the plan much less read it!
This entry was written by a guest author. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of PressDr, Inc.
About the Author:
E.V.Orakwue, MPS, CISSP, DAWIA Level 1 Qualified is a senior analyst for a National Defense Contractor. E.V.Orakwue specializes in the emerging field of Unmanned Systems with a focus on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and currently hosts the blog www.unmannedsystemsblog.com
. Previously published articles can be found in the International Management Consultants NCR ezine, The ISSA Journal and the WorldComp Proceeding of the 2009 International Conference on SWWS. Contact the author at
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