There are a lot of possibilities that can disrupt the proper functioning of your credit union’s website. These events might come in the form of cyberattacks, wildfires, hurricanes, or pandemics. All of these occurrences, whether brought on by natural forces or human activity, carry the possibility of seriously impairing a credit union’s regular business operations. Sadly, it is impossible to forecast with absolute certainty whether or not a disastrous event will occur at any one moment. To lessen the ambiguity of these risks, credit union management must take the initiative to create an adequate disaster recovery plan, as well as a business continuity plan (BCP).
What Is a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)?
A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a recorded, coordinated strategy that outlines how a company can swiftly restart operations following an unanticipated occurrence. A business continuity plan (BCP) must include a DRP. It is used concerning organizational components dependent on an effective information technology (IT) infrastructure. A DRP is designed to assist an organization in managing data loss and retrieving system functioning so that it continues to operate even if it operates at a low level following a disaster.
Why Is a Disaster Recovery Plan Important?
As a result of the disruptive incident that involved your credit union, you might have a momentary or enduring lack of access to your network and operation management system, depending on the intensity of the incident itself. In the long run, this will cause downtime, monetary upset, and significant damage to your reputation. In order to ensure business continuity, credibility, as well as compliance, a disaster recovery strategy is a smart and necessary move for any credit union to implement.
What Should a Disaster Recovery Plan for Credit Unions Include?
The disaster recovery plan for credit unions provides an extensive list of steps that any credit union should take to steer clear of and successfully recover from a catastrophic event like a cyber attack, hardware failure, natural disaster, power failure, or human mistakes.
A credit union’s backup and disaster recovery plan should have the following mandatory components:
Updating Security Software
Credit unions should maintain the most recent versions of their security software to safeguard their infrastructure from the worst possible attacks. The majority of malware is fought by security software like antiviruses using databases. Antivirus with a current database should be able to detect the most recent risks and, where necessary, respond quickly to contain them.
Threat Awareness
Knowing what you are up against is half the battle won, so it comes as no surprise that credit union websites ought to be aware of the constantly shifting cyber threat environment. On any given day, thousands of new malware cases are produced, and any one of them could be detrimental to a credit union’s IT system.
Negligence or a lack of knowledge about cyber security procedures on the part of a single credit union employee could have dire consequences. Important data might be compromised, for instance, if a senior employee clicks on a phishing link in an email sent by a source that is unreliable. This could result in a security breach that causes substantial financial damages.
The first stage in creating a successful disaster recovery plan for credit unions is training personnel on how to identify and prevent malicious assaults. Employees should be able to recognize phishing emails and other social engineering strategies as well as have a clear understanding of the consequences malware can have on a credit union through proper cybersecurity training.
Backup and Recovery
In the event of a digital assault, power failure, hardware malfunction, natural catastrophe, or human negligence, one priority remains – a credit union’s data must always be secured and backed up. Therefore, credit unions may implement a few steps toward making sure their data is secure and permanently retrievable.
Multiple Storage Locations
The most vital information for credit unions should always be kept in multiple versions or copies off-site. This aids in preventing data loss in the event of a malicious penetration and hardware malfunctions. Credit unions store a lot of data, and shifting that data to multiple places can be challenging. However, third-party businesses are offering backup options and solutions that will continuously back up your data, allowing for easy file recovery at any time.
Backup and Recovery Test
Credit unions should execute backup and recovery drill tests on a regular basis to make sure the backup solution they selected is dependable and efficient. That aids IT managers in being completely ready to respond promptly in the event of an emergency backup.
Data Restore
The speed at which you can restore your data is equally important to any backup and disaster recovery solutions as to how frequently your data is backed up. Each minute of downtime loses money. For instance, in order to restart regular business activities following a cyberattack, you must be able to reach your main data center as soon as possible.
Pandemic Planning
Up until recently, the majority of credit unions created DRPs that were primarily concerned with recovery plans for the cyberattacks and natural disasters most common in their specific regions. However, the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic has increased awareness of and the need for all credit unions to include pandemics in their DRPs, regardless of asset size and complexity.
As the pandemic occurrence may be broader and limit public and commercial services, the planning process should take into account the difference in the anticipated nature and length of the credit union’s operational disruption. Furthermore, previous pandemics have been characterized by waves of shifting activities stretching over several months, in contrast to classic disasters that have short periods, which calls for more detailed planning.
The Importance of DRPs
The main objective of a backup and disaster recovery plan for credit unions is to maintain consistency. The plan’s components should assist your credit union or financial institution in upholding strong security requirements. The steps outlined in a backup and disaster recovery plan can help keep your data safe and let you resume operations as soon as possible in the event of a disruptive incident.
