Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)Incident ManagementMedium
A CISO is reviewing the organization's disaster recovery plan (DRP) and identifies that while technical recovery procedures are well-documented, there is no clear process for managing the transition of business operations back to the primary site after a disaster. Which of the following is the MOST significant risk uncovered by this finding?
- AIncreased Recovery Time Objective (RTO) for critical systems.
- BExtended business disruption due to inefficient or uncoordinated restoration of normal operations.
- CFailure to meet regulatory compliance requirements for data retention.
- DPotential for data loss during the failback process.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Extended business disruption due to inefficient or uncoordinated restoration of normal operations.
Without a clear process for transitioning back to the primary site (failback or restoration), the organization faces significant risks of extended disruption. This includes potential for re-introducing vulnerabilities, operational confusion, and prolonged business downtime, even if technical systems are recovered.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. While possible, an extended RTO typically refers to the initial recovery, not the return to the primary site.
- C. Data retention is usually addressed by backup and archival policies, not specifically the failback process.
- D. Data loss is a risk, but the primary concern of a missing failback plan is the broader operational disruption.
Disaster Recovery Failback
The process of restoring business operations from the disaster recovery site back to the primary production site after a disaster has been resolved.
- Often more complex than the initial failover due to data synchronization challenges.
- Requires careful planning to avoid data loss and minimize business disruption.
- A critical, often overlooked, phase of the overall disaster recovery lifecycle.
Memory trick: Returning home without a plan causes more chaos.