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Chapter 8
Disaster Recovery
Planning
Introduction
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Disaster is anything that prevents access
to key processes and activities.
Disasters usually cannot be prevented or
evaded.
Types of Disasters
Natural or environmental disasters
Technical or mechanical hazards
Human Activities or Threads
Cont’d………
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Natural or Environment Disasters
Fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane,
lighting storm or air crash.
The location and the local environment
needs to be assessed to determine the
exact external threats.
Technical or Mechanical Disasters
Computer problems, instrumental
failures, industrial disasters,
equipments problems, etc
Viruses, worms, power outages,
Cont’d……….
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Human Activities or Threads
Accidental and Intentional activities.
Unintentional threats may come from
employees who accidentally delete or
update information.
Malicious attacks may originate from
hackers, paid professionals, disgruntled
employees or organized crime gangs.
Over dependence on one key person is
also a threat to system.
Cont’d…………
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The impact of a disaster can be absorbed
& firms can recover with careful disaster
recovery plan (DRP).
DRP is a comprehensive statement of all
actions to be taken before, during, and
after any type of disaster.
All DRP possess four common features:
Identify critical applications
Create a disaster recovery team
Provide site backup
Specify backup and off-site storage
Cont’d………….
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Identify Critical Applications
Recovery efforts must concentrate on
restoring the critical applications to the
short-term survival of firms.
Create a Disaster Recovery Team
Recovering from disaster depends on
timely corrective action.
Delays in performing essential tasks
extends the recovery period and
diminishes the prospects of successful
recovery.
To avoid serious omissions or duplications
Cont’d…………
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Provide Site Backup
Site backup provides a duplicate data
processing facilities following a disaster.
The most common options;
Mutual aid pact;
Empty shell or cold site;
Recovery operations center or hot site;
and
Internally provided backup.
Mutual aid pact is an agreement
between two or more firms to aid each
Cont’d……….
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Empty shell or cold site is an
arrangement wherein the firm uses a
building that will serve as a data center.
In the event of disaster, the shell is
available and ready to receive whatever
hardware the temporary user needs to
run essential systems.
Recovery operations center (ROC) or
hot site is a fully equipped backup data
center that many companies share.
ROC service providers offer a range of
technical services to clients, who pay
Cont’d………….
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Internally Provided Backup – large
companies with multiple data processing
centers often prefer self-reliance that
creating internal excess capacity
provides.
This permits firms to develop
standardized hardware and software
configurations, which ensure functional
compatibility among their data
processing centers and minimize
cutover problems in the event of a
disaster.
Cont’d………..
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Backup and Off-Site Storage Procedures
All data files, applications, documentation,
and supplies needed to perform critical
functions should be automatically backed up
and stored at a secure off-site location.
Data processing personnel should routinely
perform backup and storage procedures;
Operating System Backup
Application Backup
Backup Data Files
Backup Documentation
Backup Supplies and Source Documents
Cont’d………….
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Audit Objective
Verify that management’s DRP is
adequate and feasible for dealing with
catastrophes.
Audit Procedures
Site Backup - evaluate the adequacy of
the backup site arrangement.
Critical Application List - review the
list of critical applications to ensure
that it is complete.
Software Backup - verify that copies of
Cont’d………..
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Data Backup - verify that critical data
files are backed up in accordance with
DRP.
Backup Supplies, Documents, &
Documentation
The system documentation, supplies,
and source documents needed to
process critical transactions should be
backed up and stored off-site.
Disaster Recovery Team - verify that
members of the team are current
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Questions?
Thank you!