Gartner Group has issued a multi-point plan intended to help
organisations which were affected by Tuesday's devastation in the
United States.
The analyst company's disaster recovery and business continuity
guidelines advise companies to assemble a crisis management team to
ensure that all mission-critical decision-makers are available and,
if possible, in one location.
Gartner advises companies to take all necessary steps to ensure the
health and safety of all personnel. Conducting a first-line risk
analysis is also a priority, as is ensuring that critical data is
safely stored and available offsite.
It is important to determine the likely effect on business
operations (including networks and data centres) if factors such as
the closure of government departments or financial markets are
likely.
Surviving the crisis
- Determine what methods of communication are available and
establish key communication links
- Protect mission-critical processes
- Make a public and regularly-updated declaration of the steps
you are taking to deal with the crisis
- For online attacks, implement a cyber-incident response (CIRT)
plan if you have one
- If you do not have a CIRT plan, block all external Internet
access until you feel safe that a wave of cyber-terrorism attacks
is not imminent
- Make sure that all employees are aware of the company's
evacuation procedures. All employees should update their emergency
contact information with the human resources department