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CASE STUDY
Strengthening Incident Response and Disaster Recovery
The client
Our client, a large enterprise organization, had taken proactive steps to establish both Incident Response (IR) and Disaster Recovery (DR) plans to guide their team through potential disruptions and events. However, industry-wide events like the recent CrowdStrike outage highlighted some areas that required improvements in their existing approach, particularly concerning embedded software agents in critical systems. Concerned about the resilience of their current plans, they sought to ensure they were prepared for worst-case scenarios.
The challenge
Addressing Gaps in Preparedness
While the client had established IR and DR plans, they faced a critical challenge: ensuring these plans could effectively guide their personnel during high-stakes scenarios such as outages, data breaches or other disruptions. While they had not been directly impacted by any specific incident, recent industry-wide disruptions highlighted potential weaknesses in their playbooks and plans. Their primary concerns included:
- Existing Plans Were Not Detailed Enough
Both IR/DR plans lacked specific step-by-step procedures and communication protocols for complex scenarios. - Playbooks Needed Updating
Their existing Disaster Recovery playbooks were not tailored to address scenarios dealing with embedded software agents where access to critical applications and systems could be lost. - Preparedness for Emerging Risks
With software agents increasingly embedded in operating systems, the organization wanted to strengthen their response mechanisms to mitigate future risks.
They needed a trusted partner to assess, refine, and enhance their IR and DR strategies comprehensively.
The solution
Tailored Playbooks and Strategic Enhancements
- Assessment of Existing Plans
We conducted a thorough review of their IR and DR plans, focusing on and identifying areas that required enhancement to address complex scenarios. - Collaborative Workshops
Through interactive workshops, we worked with their technical team to identify critical gaps in response strategies and outline practical, prioritized activities for each phase of the incident response and disaster recovery process. - Development of Customized Playbooks
We developed a suite of incident response playbooks tailored to their unique applications, systems, and services, which included:
→Checklists for Prioritized Activities: Actionable steps to guide personnel during an incidents.
→Communication Chains: Defined roles and responsibilities to ensure efficient coordination during a crisis.
→Scenario-Based Guides: Playbooks addressing potential anomalies to prepare for the unexpected. - Incorporation of Best Practices
We integrated industry best practices, the organization’s IR methodology, and insights from public post-incident assessments to create a resilient framework.
The outcome
A Resilient Response Framework
A comprehensive and actionable framework to respond to and recover from incidents efficiently. Core deliverables include:
- Clear, actionable playbooks to guide their team through high-pressure incidents, reducing downtime and minimizing disruption.
- Updated playbooks and a robust response & recovery plans have bolstered confidence among leadership and technical teams.
- Risks related to embedded software agents are mitigated, ensuring preparedness for evolving cybersecurity threats.
Key outcomes:
- Greater Preparedness
- Improved Confidence
- Future-Ready Strategies
Looking Ahead: Expanding Resilience with Business Continuity
This engagement laid the groundwork for further enhancing the company’s overall resilience. The next step involves transitioning to a Business Continuity Plan (BCP)—a more comprehensive approach that prepares for potential full-scale business disruptions.
This includes:
→Business Impact Assessments to identify recovery time and point objectives of critical data, functions and services.
→Strategies to maintain business functions during outages or service disruptions.
→Performing table-top exercises to identify strengths, weaknesses, and lessons learned.