RenovoData was featured in the 3PL Perspectives publication with this article: “Cyber-Safe Roads: Mitigating Cyber Threats in Transportation and Logistics”.

3PL Perspectives is a third-party logistics magazine provided by the Transportation Intermediaries Association.

An excerpt is below:

“As the industry continues to embrace cloud platforms, automation, and data-driven technologies, it has become an increasingly attractive target for cyber attackers.”

You can read the complete article, “Cyber-Safe Roads: Mitigating Cyber Threats in Transportation and Logistics“.

RenovoData was featured in the 3PL Perspectives publication with this article: “Your Last Line of Defense: How Disaster Recovery Makes a Difference”.

3PL Perspectives is a third-party logistics magazine provided by the Transportation Intermediaries Association.

An excerpt is below:

“As cyberthreats become more frequent and sophisticated, one truth becomes clear; your disaster recovery (DR) strategy is the final line of defense between a security incident and a full-
blown operational catastrophe.”

You can read the complete article, “Your Last Line of Defense: How Disaster Recovery
Makes a Difference“.

It’s Time to Update Your Disaster Recovery Plan

In recent years, businesses have faced an unprecedented range of challenges, underscoring the importance of proactive preparedness. It’s more critical to anticipate and plan for potential business problems than ever. The pandemic challenged organizations and IT networks to adapt quickly, as remote work became the new normal in many industries. Businesses prepared to adapt rapidly were able to pivot with minimal loss of income.

In addition, natural disasters are an ever-present threat. Wildfires, tornados, and other extreme weather events are on the rise and becoming more destructive. These evolving threats highlight the need for companies to be prepared for unforeseen crises and disruptions.

The frequency and impact of cyberattacks are another area of concern. 59% of companies worldwide suffered a ransomware attack. This is particularly alarming, as only 55% of organizations have a disaster response plan in place.

Businesses must mitigate their risk and plan for minimal downtime. Resilience lies in having a comprehensive and up-to-date disaster recovery strategy built on a realistic risk assessment, operational analysis and a detailed, well-tested disaster response plan.

To ensure your business is adequately prepared, creating a disaster response plan and actively maintaining it with periodic reviews – at least once a year – as your IT environment changes. With a sound preparedness strategy and frequent updates, your business will stay ready for any disaster that may arise.

Start with a Realistic Risk Assessment

A solid disaster recovery plan starts with a realistic risk assessment of specific threats your business faces. These risks are constantly evolving, which is why it’s best practice to conduct risk assessments on a regular basis — at least annually. If it’s been a while since your last assessment, begin by identifying vulnerabilities in your IT systems, networks, security, hardware, and data storage etc. Are your hardware or servers nearing end of life? Older equipment can pose unique security risks that require more vigilant protocols.

Assess hardware & operating systems integrity regularly to prevent vulnerabilities from outdated technology. Research and evaluate emerging risks in the cyber threat landscape that can impact your company. It is essential to integrate strategies that address emerging trends in your disaster recovery plan.

Weather patterns and other environmental risks also deserve careful consideration. For example, are experts predicting severe thunderstorms or flooding in your area? Is your organization vulnerable to natural disruptions? As you read the news of wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes across the U.S., ask yourself how your organization might deal with similar circumstances. By facing the possibilities head on, you and your team can begin to prioritize readiness.

Operational Analysis: Building Business Resilience

The next critical step in disaster recovery planning is conducting an operational analysis. This allows you to evaluate day-to-day operations and identify new risks that may have emerged. Establish standardized procedures and documentation for onboarding and offboarding employees. For instance, once employees leave your company, ensure that all their accounts are deactivated. If your workforce is transitioning back to the office or adopting a hybrid model, have a plan in place to track both physical assets and online activities.

This analysis should also extend to your data backup systems. Are backups stored in geographically remote locations and the cloud? How quickly can you restore critical data and applications if disaster strikes? Regularly testing data backups and ensuring you have a full inventory — by both status and location — is essential for mitigating risk. Don’t rely solely on cloud storage. Prepare contingencies in case you lose access to your cloud-based backup systems.

Align your disaster recovery plan with current compliance standards to ensure it meets evolving regulations. As part of this analysis, consider performing a data and application criticality assessment. Companies in the medical industry, for instance, must comply with HIPAA requirements stating IT systems be prioritized based on their importance. It’s a prudent model that all organizations can follow. Identify which applications and systems must be restored immediately following a disruption and which can wait a few hours, or even days. By defining a clear hierarchy, you can more easily set priorities for teams and ensure recovery efforts will focus on critical operations first to minimize disruption. Be sure to communicate these priorities with everyone on your recovery team and maintain transparent reporting procedures and documentation.

Updating, Refining Your Disaster Recovery Plan

Once your risk assessment and operational analysis are complete, it’s time to update your disaster recovery plan. Our ebook, Five Steps for Building a Culture of Cyber Resilience, provides a helpful overview of what to consider. If you already have a plan in place, that’s great—just remember, an outdated plan can be as detrimental as having no plan at all. Unless it’s actionable and provides clear direction for team members, your plan will not serve your organization should disaster strike.

To ensure your organization is ready for any disaster, review and update your plan annually based on changes in your business operations and the broader risk landscape. Aim to modify your plan each time your environment changes – for instance, when changes are made to hardware or network configurations.

Establish regular communication to ensure your disaster recovery team is up to date. Staff turnover can leave gaps in your team’s expertise. It’s essential to review and update team assignments regularly to reflect current staff. Distribute and maintain an updated organizational chart so you can easily identify replacements for team members who leave the company or move into new roles.

Establish a cross-functional team that represents all major business units and leadership. Additionally, cross-train team members so that each is capable of (and responsible for) filling multiple roles if needed. Redundancy is an invaluable asset in times of disaster and recovery.

Keep contact information for team members up to date and circulate it. One helpful practice is to have each department maintain a customer and employee contact list, identifying who they are responsible for contacting in an emergency. You might also provide each member with a laminated card containing contact information for all team members to ensure quick phone communication in a crisis.

Many organizations find it useful to have multiple ways of payment. Consider identifying alternative workarounds for placing orders or making payments. If necessary, once these channels are in place, your business will be able to continue functioning even under challenging circumstances should business channels get disrupted.

Testing Your Plan and Building Teamwork

Before finalizing or updating your disaster recovery plan, it’s essential to test it. Gather your updated disaster recovery team and run through a variety of scenarios. Tabletop exercises and real-time simulations provide a valuable opportunity for team members to collaborate, identify weaknesses, and refine their responses to potential crises. It’s best to draw from real-world scenarios and use current risks—such as the latest cyber threats or climate events—as the basis for these tests. This ensures that your plan remains practical and relevant.

In addition to testing the plan itself, plan annual or quarterly security awareness training for all employees that include updates to disaster recovery protocols. Familiarize on-site employees with evacuation routes, emergency contact points, and how to reach team members in case of a disaster. Remote workers may require different protocols, including printed instructions to follow if web-based communications are inoperable.

Redundancy and Due Diligence are Key to Mitigating Risk and Downtime

When selecting a cloud disaster recovery vendor, redundancy is crucial to ensuring business continuity. A reliable provider should offer geographically distributed data centers, real-time replication, and automated failover with live support to minimize downtime. Regular testing and due diligence help verify that your disaster recovery solution functions as expected, reducing the risk of data loss or prolonged outages and meeting Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) requirements. By leveraging a cloud-based disaster recovery solution, businesses can enhance resilience while optimizing costs, opposed to maintaining a fully integrated and redundant physical site.

Rely on Experts, Not Intuition

As businesses become more data-driven and interconnected, preparedness is now a vital part of protecting an organization’s value. Even the most experienced IT professionals can benefit from additional consulting to make sure your planning follows best practices and leverages the most current solutions.

A partner like RenovoData, experienced in serving businesses in every vertical, can deliver invaluable insights to help your IT team identify and address vulnerabilities to avoid costly downtime. Whether you need a complete cloud backup solution or ancillary services to augment an already robust resilience plan, RenovoData can help you meet your recovery goals.

Experience the difference that RenovoData can make for your organization with cloud backup, Server Recovery, DRaaS, and Hosted Solutions coupled with ongoing tactical recovery services. Schedule a call to discuss how we mitigate risks and downtime. Call 1.877.834.3684 or email us at info@renovodata.com.

RenovoData was featured in the 3PL Perspectives publication with this article: “Safeguarding Data In a Multi-Cloud World”.

3PL Perspectives is a third-party logistics magazine provided by the Transportation Intermediaries Association.

An excerpt is below:

“Data-driven decision-making is increasingly crucial in today’s business landscape. Protecting valuable data has never been more vital, yet it has also become more challenging.”

You can read the complete article, “Safeguarding Data In a Multi-Cloud World“.

Is Today’s Changing Data Landscape Leaving Your Company Vulnerable?

Today’s business world is increasingly powered by data. Protecting it has never been more important, and keeping track of it has never been more challenging. As growing numbers of companies are working virtually and leveraging cloud applications and multi-clouds, data management is becoming more complex.

The data landscape is expanding, with roughly 92% of organizations having a multi-cloud strategy in place. This creates “data sprawl”, with files stored on multiple platforms. The result is an increased risk of dangerous data exposure. Backing up irreplaceable files in the cloud is essential for business continuity.

Growing numbers of organizations now utilize cloud-based applications – a significant rise of 35% since 2022. Data creation is projected to continue to grow 35% each year, through 2025, and 1 in 5 employees have used personal apps to upload, create, share, and store sensitive company information, further complicating security risks.

Research shows that 71% of respondents believe data sprawl is a problem for their company which could lead to expensive fees associated with compliance and privacy breaches. Duplicated data backups waste money and create confusion. Additionally, if you are unable to keep track of your critical systems, applications, and data backups this can impact your recovery in a data disaster. Worst of all, data sprawl puts organizations at needless security risks, and legal exposures, and impacts your IT downtime. Each of these risks is costly to remediate and can even force companies out of business.

Steps to Rein in Data Sprawl

Controlling data sprawl starts with a systematic approach. First, a business should establish a structure to classify data, and to manage applications and systems. Next, protect critical data, systems, and applications locally and in the cloud. Be sure to provide employees with tools, access standards, and policies to educate them on how to properly interact with company data. Finally, implement appropriate life cycle management policies.

Data classification is a critical, but often-overlooked, aspect of data security. Without a solid structure in place, it’s impossible to categorize data for easy, secure access. A good classification policy provides a framework for protecting data throughout its life cycle, including how and where it is created, stored, processed, and transmitted. It also catalogs where the data lives to ensure it is being backed up.

Classification is Key

It’s important to clearly define the individuals within an organization who are responsible for each step of data classification, protection, and handling. Specifically, the delegation system should outline who will create policies, educate stakeholders, identify risks, and ensure compliance. Classification categories should reflect the sensitivity of data and outline how confidential assets are to be stored, moved, or processed.

Major types of data might be classified according to their level of sensitivity. For example, you might use a four-step system based on the potential damage that would be caused in case of a breach.

• Public – Data that can be freely shared with the public, such as marketing materials, website content, and contact information.
• Internal – Information that is not intended for public disclosure, such as sales playbooks or organizational charts.
• Confidential –  sensitive data that might negatively impact the company if widely disclosed. This information might include vendor contacts and employee/HR data, which businesses are legally bound to safeguard.
• Restricted –  Highly sensitive business and customer data that would put the company at financial or legal risk, such as intellectual property, HIPPA-protected data, credit card information and social security, and other personal, identifiable information.

Careful consideration of all this data and how it’s managed, stored, and shared may seem a daunting task. But simply addressing the basics will provide a baseline of security and peace of mind.

With this information in hand, you can easily begin to apply a four-step management system to elevate the security of all data assets. Identify where your data, hardware, and software assets live. Classify each data set according to its importance. Test and document a plan to mitigate the impact of unexpected events. Finally, protect your data, applying budget where it matters most.

For a free consultation, call us at 1.877-834-3684 or email us at info@renovodata.com.

The need for an Acceptable Use Policy is high

The swelling trend of working from home coupled with the growing impact and frequency of cyber-attacks and data breaches has left organizations of all sizes searching for ways to improve their IT resilience and recovery capabilities from cyber threats. One of the leading causes of cyberattacks is employee negligence. A single negligent employee can be the weak link in any organization’s IT infrastructure, information systems, and network resources. This can lead to many types of security issues such as data and network access breaches, malware, and phishing attacks. One simple step to improve an organization’s security posture is for management to create and adopt an Acceptable Use Policy.

An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a set of rules established by an organization’s management and IT teams that dictate the ways employees interact with the company’s data and network, all for creating a more secure IT environment. An AUP defines the way your company’s resources may or may not be used by your employees.

Acceptable Use Policies are a foundational tool for an organization and its employees to continue business operations responsibly and safely. Here are some examples of how IT Security leaders define the best practices for their IT infrastructure.

What does an Acceptable Use Policy look like?

Employees of all roles and backgrounds are encouraged to use and consult the document, and therefore it needs to be approachable. Cybersecurity experts prescribe an Acceptable Use Policy that is short, easy to read, and organized into sections.

What does the Acceptable Use Policy apply to?

Simply stated, the document should apply to all interactions an employee has with the organization’s network. Here’s an excerpt from the Acceptable Use Policy at Brown University:

“Computing resources (covered by the Acceptable Use Policy) include all company and employee-owned, licensed, or managed hardware and software, the use of the company network via a physical or wireless connection, and all applicable company-owned data stored or accessible on employee’s personal hardware.”

What security standards are set for corporate and employee-owned hardware?

The security standards are up to the discretion of the organization. We’ve seen security policies vary in strictness, but it’s important to use verbiage consisting of absolutes to convey the importance and encourage standardization. Here’s an example from the SANS Institute, a global leader in cybersecurity training:

“You may access, use or share proprietary information only to the extent it is authorized and necessary to fulfill your assigned job duties. All computing devices must be secured with a password-protected screensaver with the automatic activation feature set to 10 minutes or less. You must lock the screen or log off when the device is unattended.”

What vulnerabilities do remote workers create that an Acceptable Use Policy can mitigate?

• Exponential Endpoints: Despite many organizations issuing company hardware to their employees, there are plenty of reasons that an employee would choose to use their personal device instead of the company-issued equipment (i.e., device power, extra monitors). This preferential choice creates a nearly unquantifiable number of endpoints that could be used to access company data or networks without the same security standards as the organization’s machines. The average home in the U.S. has two personal computers and two cell phones. These endpoints are not secure by default, and the addition of these devices into operations must be viewed as a data security risk. An acceptable use policy could have provisions ensuring no personal devices are used, or certain standards required to use a personal device. A simple example is: a VPN is required to access the organization’s network.
• Network Vulnerability: Even if employees’ personal devices are secured to company standards, there is more to worry about than two phones and two computers. The average U.S. home has ten devices connected to its home network. The interconnectivity of the Internet of Things (IoT) coupled with work-from-home has led to the adverse side effect of a device as simple as a printer being a threat to an organization’s entire network. If a hacker was able to pull company data logs from an employee’s home printer, it could lead to the exposure of all locally stored data and data shared on the company network.
• Culture Desynchronization: A possible side effect of work-from-home are the negative impacts of employees’ lack of opportunity to develop relationships among themselves. Without the water cooler, employees may use their downtime to browse the web or otherwise entertain themselves at home. Unfortunately, this can present a host of security concerns. Some comprehensive acceptable use policies also include an Internet Usage Policy, which firmly outlines what websites are acceptable to peruse on company equipment, or company networks. An expressly clear internet usage policy helps dispel ambiguity and creates a culture of security – uniting employees under the same standards.

Business Continuity Considerations

An Acceptable Use Policy is an effective preliminary tool in designing a comprehensive business continuity plan. It’s recommended – especially with today’s data landscape – that when BC Planning, you put your people first. Today’s employees face many COVID-related challenges, from establishing a stable home office to concerns about family’s health and safety. Organizational policies and plans shouldn’t complicate the lives of already disrupted employees. Instead, when possible, make your acceptable use policy as easy for your employee to adopt as you can. Here are some examples of tools that can be embraced without shifting significant responsibility on your team.

A secure, encrypted, file-sync and share tool with the ability to create shares at an individual, team, and organizational level streamlines operations and makes collaborating easier out of the office.
Point in time, offsite backups for Microsoft 365 are essential for organizations that rely heavily on the Microsoft software suite for operations and communication.

Cybersecurity training is of course core to building a more aware organization, and the less it feels like homework the more receptive your employees will be. Look for cybersecurity training that includes short videos and quick comprehension tests, but also includes tools that an employee can look upon when trying to decipher the legitimate from the phishing scam.

Design a phased policy publishing schedule that will allow users to adapt slowly over time- this applies when policies result in significant changes to business activities.
Keeping the policy current is important as technology changes and shifts in threats evolve, so too must your company’s AUP. At a minimum, these policies should be reviewed at least once a year or when something changes like Covid-19 that forces workarounds and adjustments.

Get Help

Business Continuity Plans (and even smaller projects, like Acceptable Use Policies) can seem incredibly daunting for an IT department to dive into. Don’t tackle it alone. RenovoData specializes in helping organizations protect their data, create plans, and recover in case a disaster strikes.

A recent article by Chuck Cook of RenovoData was published in 3PL Perspectives about “Recovery Strategies versus Recovery Solutions: Are yours Aligned?”

Excerpt below:

“Because of their dependence on accurate and high-speed workflows, 3PL and trucking companies incur significant losses when a disaster shuts down their operations. They simply cannot afford the interruption of current business or the lost opportunities from IT outages or data loss. Unfortunately, many of these same companies have either inadequate recovery strategies or none at all.”

To learn more about what should be included in every 3PL’s recovery goals, read the complete article at “Recovery Strategies versus Recovery Solutions: Are yours Aligned?“

Small to medium-sized companies may want a comprehensive Business Continuity Plan to withstand the pressures created by COVID-19, but who has the time or resources, and where to begin? Simply maintaining operations is challenging, especially since no one can say with certainty how long the pandemic will last or what its long-term effects will be. Few if any businesses have ever made plans to confront a crisis of this magnitude. The best that the majority of organizations can do now is to devise workaround procedures based on their existing plans, to implement the most creative thinking they can muster and the best guidance they can obtain.

There are steps to be taken to build effective Business Continuity Plans, steps that allow the most essential functions to continue while recognizing and accommodating the many ways in which our daily lives are being battered.

Every business activity and process must be evaluated afresh. Some new directions will require improvisation and ingenuity while others need no more than a shift in management’s point of view.

Meanwhile, reliable cybersecurity, data protection, backup and disaster recovery planning capabilities are no less crucial than before. We face extraordinary new threats to our IT structures, but the familiar ones – malware, weather events, and the like – have not gone away. In fact, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the current disruption to design advanced attacks.

At RenovoData, one of our core missions has always been to help businesses survive and prosper when disaster strikes. Based on our experience, we offer the following recommendations for Business Continuity Planning in today’s landscape.

Put your people first.

• We are all affected by the pandemic, so be sure to acknowledge that human factors can sometimes outweigh business considerations.
• Remember that many remote workers are responsible for their families’ health and safety. Parents and caregivers will experience pressures that are likely to impact how they handle their duties.
• Be prepared for the spontaneous evolution of new customs and corporate cultural norms spurred by an abruptly changed environment.
• When possible, let people know if their jobs are secure or in jeopardy or if management has not yet decided.

Assess your business’s functions.

• Begin by identifying the ways in which business continuity will be influenced by new realities.
• Assess all your tools, techniques, and procedures in light of current conditions.
• Look for nonessential tasks that can be diminished or suspended for the duration.
• Determine if your existing IT resources are adequate for effective telecommuting.
• Appoint leaders to head up planning efforts and establish clear chains of command. While people can be understandably shaken by events, they should understand that planning must take place.
• Decide which people – IT staff in particular – need to be onsite, and look for ways to reduce that need.
• Establish policies for how employees connect with customers, vendors, and other outside entities. This includes both technical and personal perspectives.
• Set guidelines for how business materials should be handled by remote workers. This includes printing documents, downloading files, and other tasks normally performed only on-site.
• Establish rules regarding the use of personal email and other external links. There will be circumstances in which employees need more time for interaction with loved ones than usual.
• Be sure that you have full-featured and reliable technology for video conferencing, and that your employees know how to use it.

Communicate.

• One of the dangers of this crisis is a constant barrage of false and misleading information coming from every direction. Help employees distinguish fact from fiction.
• Make firm rules about necessary actions like hand washing and social distancing.
• Disseminate guidance from the most authoritative sources possible. These include the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and other knowledgeable sources, not just cable news, politicians, or assorted celebrities. Be aware that expert recommendations may not always agree with company policies.
• Tell your entire organization about major plans, events, and decisions.
• See to it that new and revised duties and policies are clear to everyone.
• Let your customers, vendors, strategic partners, and your industry’s trade press know how your company is doing.

Get help.

The COVID-19 outbreak may have caught the world off guard, but expert guidance is available. At RenovoData, an important part of our work is understanding how and why catastrophes can devastate IT systems, how to prevent damage, and how to remedy the harm that has occurred. We are ready to lend our knowledge and experience to your planning initiative.

For guidance in planning your company’s powerful response to the pandemic, call us at 1 877 834 3684 or email us at into@renovodata.com. Remember that the pandemic will end one day and the actions your company takes now will affect its future.