Building a Fast-Track Business Impact Analysis & Recovery Plan Using NIST CSF

Making your organization cyber resilient is crucial. Recently, during our first-ever live stream, we walked through practical steps to create a Business Impact Analysis (BIA), Continuity, and Disaster Recovery Plans using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF). Here's a helpful overview of what we discussed and how these strategies can make your business more resilient.

Why Focus on the Recover Function?

The NIST CSF Recover function is all about restoring your business operations efficiently after a disruption. Understanding this is key to resilience. We explored two main activities: Recover Plan Execution and Recover Communication. While fixing issues, you must also keep your stakeholders informed; a crucial part of recovering from an awful cyber failure.

Steps to a Fast-Track Business Impact Analysis

1. Identify Core Processes: Focus on four essential processes: Order to Cash, Purchase to Pay, Hire to Retire, and Record to Report. Tailor these to fit your organization's terminology.

2. Conducting the BIA: Use simple templates to identify the most critical system and possible disruptions, like network outages or system failures, for each process. Determine how long each system can be down (Recovery Time Objective) and how much data you can afford to lose (Recovery Point Objective).

Real-Life Example

To illustrate, we shared a real-world example of a company using these steps. They identified critical systems like their website and HubSpot for sales and determined the likely disruptions, such as network outages or service downtimes. They found that even service outages of a few hours could lead to significant problems.

From BIA to Action: Building the Recovery Plan

Once you've gathered BIA data, the next step is building a straightforward Recover Plan:

• Business Continuity: Document existing strategies such as backup systems or alert systems.

• Disaster Recovery: Plan for worst-case scenarios, such as switching to backup service providers promptly.

These discoveries can help you communicate effectively with your decision-makers, highlighting areas needing investment or change.

Overcoming Challenges and Getting Buy-In

Getting stakeholders to buy into this process can be challenging. It's crucial to present your findings clearly, showing potential risks and needed investments. Sharing real impacts, like in the case of United Structures of America, can make your case stronger.

Conclusion

In summary, a Fast-Track BIA and Recover Plan based on the NIST CSF can significantly enhance your organization's resilience. Use our insights to engage your team, assess your current readiness, and prepare for future disruptions. Remember, being proactive today can save considerable resources tomorrow.

For more resources or to get a copy of our templates, feel free to reach out to our Executive Director, Lisa Shaw. Let's build more secure and resilient businesses together!

Next Steps

If you want to go deeper, check out our LinkedIn Live replay – https://www.linkedin.com/events/nistcsfplaybook-c-suiteedition7333169900632317952/theater/