Cyber recovery and disaster recovery are separate, though equally vital for data protection in organizations from various kinds of threats. According to IBM, cyber recovery is about handling only malicious cyber incidents, while disaster recovery is about many more incidents, including but not limited to cyber, natural disasters, and infrastructure failures.
Cyber Recovery: Immutable Storage
Cyber recovery is used to involve immutable storage as this has an important role in ensuring that important data is backed up in a storage area that cannot be altered or manipulated. This way ensures that the backup files cannot be manipulated, erased, or locked by the ransomware attacks hence providing organizations with optimal recovery points.
Key features of immutable storage include:
- A WORM format for recording wherein only a few versions of data are allowed to be written to the media while many copies of the same data could be recorded on the media.
- IT solution that requires air-gapped protection to eliminate connections with the production network
- Somewhat similar yet different to the Total Easy RECOVER Solution is the Continuous Data Protection feature which takes frequent snapshots.
- More compatibility with cyber vaults or other isolated recovery mechanisms for more security
As a consequence, the integration of immutable storage provides higher protection against cyberattacks, lowered risk of loss of data, and no losses due to ransomware attacks. Along with other elements of cyber resilience this technology constitutes a strong barrier against new and developing forms of digital threats and supports business operations when facing a cyber-attack.
Proportions and Significance of Forensic Analysis
In the recovery process of cyber security threats, forensic results are quite useful as they assist in gaining an understanding of the events that led to the security incidences and also help in helping in formulating the best action to take. Digital forensic analysts extract, save, and scrutinize digital artifacts to reenact security breaches, discover weaknesses, and measure the level of unauthorized access to information technology assets.
This process involves:
- The chain of custody issues for keeping all the evidence in good form and condition
- Scanning of system logs, network traffic, and concerned files.
- Recognizing data that particular malware or malicious scripts were used in the attack
- Adjusting chronology and the extent of occurrence
Even if organizations succeed in eliminating the actual threat, they still can gain much by adopting forensic analysis not only for a faster and more efficient recovery after cyberattacks but also for enhanced security that will prevent similar kinds of attacks in the future. Specifically, forensic analyses drive specific changes to architectural controls, detection response frameworks, and more generally, an organization’s cybersecurity posture, all of which contribute to the concept of cyber resilience.
3-2-1-1 Backup Strategy
Also known as the 3-2-1 backup rule, the 3-2-1-1 rule is an improvement of the traditional 3-2-1 rule due to today’s cybersecurity threats such as ransomware. This approach adds an extra layer of security by incorporating immutable storage:
- Backing up means having three original copies of that data.
- A total of 2 different types of storage media are present.
- 1 copy stored off-site
- 1 copy to read that is immutable or air-gapped
The new concept is the immutable copy which cannot be further changed or erased, not even by the administrators. This unalterability is done to make sure that at one time in the set of backups, there is none that has been affected by the ransomware attacks for recovery. Once an organization applies the 3-2-1-1 tools, it is well protected against data loss and cyber threats because the appropriate backup will lessen the time an organization has to deal with the threats and avoid paying ransomware.
Cyber vs Disaster Recovery
Cyber recovery and disaster recovery, both are important in business crises and are key for any business, but the two concepts have a disparity in their frameworks and operations. These differences are related to the characteristics of threats that they respond to and the difficulties peculiar to each of them. Cyber recovery is mainly focused on deliberate acts of cyber criminality, such as ransomware, data leaks, or cyber-attacks. Disaster recovery on the other hand is a broad term that covers both natural calamities and common calamities such as hardware malfunction among others and human-made mistakes. Consequently, threat natures differ fundamentally, which, in turn, means that preparation and response strategies differ, too. The range and manner of these recovery mechanisms also differ. Disaster recovery usually means switching over to a preplanned backup site or system and a basic assumption here is that the environment at the site is secure and is ready for operations. Cyber recovery on the other hand is more dynamic and can be very unpredictable. In a cyber-attack scenario, there is frequently uncertainty as to the degree of penetration and it is never fully known if backup systems are similarly compromised. Times and procedures of response also vary. Cyber recovery requires immediate action as far as it is exercised to stabilize a situation so that more data are not lost. This can involve cutting off infected systems, determining the origin of the attack, and data recovery from safe backup copies. Disaster recovery on the other hand is also time sensitive though it could take longer depending, depending on the level of disaster. The teams also vary in the contexts in which these recovery processes are conducted. Cyber recovery normally starts with the SOC team diagnosing the attack and identifying the timeframe or scope of the attack commonly referred to as Blast Radius. On the other hand, disaster recovery tends to be managed centrally by IT departments using specific procedures. Reconstruction techniques differ also in case of data loss. In cyber recovery, the applications and data are sometimes recovered with a bare-metal server so that dormant malware may not be present. As for disaster recovery, several most recent backups or synchronized copies with no consideration of malware infection. Finally, cyber recovery, in most instances, goes beyond just mere restoration of a system, to other activities such as investigation, and reporting to law enforcement agencies, among other regulatory procedures. These steps are not normally required for traditional recoveries from disasters. Knowledge of these differences is important to ensure that organizations scratch the bottom to have a clear, detailed plan to respond to and mitigate the impact of Cyber threats as well as other forms of disasters that may render an organization inoperational thus the need to enhance business continuity plans.
Cybersecurity Best Practices
Security best practices should be instituted to defend against constantly evolving threats and keep the business averse to cyber threats. Here are some key best practices to consider:
- Establish a comprehensive cybersecurity policy: Implement a clear and written cybersecurity plan that comprehensively outlines threats within the company and its environment with regard to compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of stored information. It can be a single policy on data handling with ad hoc policies in each department depending on their specifications.
- Implement strong access controls: Remove more than the necessary access rights from the employees; instead, users only must be granted the least level of access that can accomplish their tasks. Perform MFA checks for all the accounts and in the special attention for the users who have privileged accounts. Users who are no longer required or who violate the standard should have deactivated or deleted access rights.
- Conduct regular security awareness training: Inform the employees on various types of contemporary cyber threats, cyber vulnerabilities, and how to avoid such cases. These areas include; recognizing phishing scams, managing sensitive information, and the issue of password usage.
- Employ network segmentation and encryption: Organize the manner of working into different layers so that contamination of a certain kind of attack can be isolated. The privacy of the transmitted data must have to be submitted to encryption, both while in transit, as well as when it is stored.
- Maintain robust patch management: Implement a clear, ideally automated patch management system to update all the mainline and subsidiary hardware, software, and firmware with current patches.
- Monitor privileged and third-party user activity: Record and manage the behavior of all key or non-standard users, as well as third-party contractors, using user activity monitoring (UAM) solutions. This serves as protection against intrusion and offers insight into the incident in case of an attack.
- Develop an incident response plan: Develop and practice a thorough incident handling plan to guide an organization on how to identify, contain, and manage security incidents. Such a plan should therefore contain actions that should be taken when informing the respective parties.
- Implement secure system development practices: System development life cycle management includes security assurance tests like penetration testing, code review, and architecture analysis.
- Regularly assess and update security measures: Is recommended to perform routine cybersecurity assessments in order to specify the efficacy of the present security measures and take the necessary improvements. Be aware of new threats to the enterprise and make necessary changes to the security strategy.
- Secure remote work environments: Now that remote work has become more prominent, also introduce layers such as VPN, endpoint security, and cloud security to mitigate threats against such groups.
When organizations follow the above laid down practices, their cybersecurity can be greatly improved and potentially eliminate major cyber threats. What must also be understood is that cybersecurity is not a one-time activity that you do and then you leave it at that, the threats change and need to be reassessed periodically.
