Disaster Recovery Plan Cyber Security Template

Standard Operating Procedure: Cyber-Resilience & Disaster Recovery (DR)

1. Document Control Block

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2. Executive Summary & Purpose

This document establishes the institutional framework for restoring critical business functions following a catastrophic cyber event (e.g., Ransomware, Data Breach, DDoS). The purpose is to minimize Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) through standardized, immutable recovery pathways.

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3. Scope & Prerequisites

• Scope: All cloud-native production environments, on-premise edge servers, and identity providers (IdP).
• Prerequisites:
  • Verified "Air-Gapped" or Immutable backups.
  • Emergency Out-of-Band (OOB) communication platform (e.g., Signal or hardware-encrypted bridge).
  • Privileged Access Management (PAM) vault containing break-glass credentials.
• Tools: Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform/Pulumi), Configuration Management (Ansible), SIEM/SOAR dashboard.

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4. Roles & Responsibilities (RACI)

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5. Step-by-Step Procedure

Phase I: Detection & Containment

• Verify breach trigger via SIEM alert.
• Initiate OOB communication channel.
• Execute network isolation (segment compromised segments from core production).
• Capture volatile memory (RAM) and disk snapshots for forensic analysis.

Phase II: Assessment & Recovery Planning

• Determine scope of data corruption/encryption.
• Identify the "Clean Point" in the backup cycle (last known good state).
• Validate integrity of immutable backup repositories.
• Approve Recovery Plan by CISO/Lead Architect.

Phase III: Restoration

• Provision clean environment (Infrastructure as Code).
• Restore data from verified immutable backups.
• Patch vulnerabilities associated with initial entry vector.
• Initiate credential rotation for all system/service accounts.

Phase IV: Post-Mortem & Validation

• Perform penetration test on restored environment.
• Sync log data to verify operational baseline.
• Conduct "Lessons Learned" briefing within 72 hours.
• Update DR documentation based on recovery telemetry.

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6. Quality Assurance & Pro-Tips

• RTO/RPO Thresholds:
  • Critical Systems: RTO < 4 hours, RPO < 15 minutes.
  • General Systems: RTO < 24 hours, RPO < 4 hours.
• Pro-Tips:
  • The 3-2-1-1 Rule: Keep 3 copies of data, on 2 media types, 1 offsite, and 1 immutable (air-gapped).
  • Automated Drills: Trigger "chaos engineering" simulations monthly to ensure restoration scripts do not bit-rot.
• Common Pitfalls: Neglecting to patch the secondary site before failing over (re-infecting the recovery environment).

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7. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Should we pay the ransom to expedite recovery?

• A: No. Payment incentivizes future attacks and does not guarantee decryption key functionality or data privacy. Focus on immutable restoration.

Q: If we identify a breach, do we disconnect all network traffic immediately?

• A: Only if it does not trigger automated anti-tamper logic in core systems. Prioritize segmenting the management plane and production DBs from the public internet first.

Q: How often must we test this procedure?

• A: A full-scale simulation must occur at least semi-annually. Table-top exercises should occur quarterly to keep team familiarity high.