Continuity of Operations

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Continuity of Operations E063
A Bit of Security, June 3, 2025
Seems like a good time to refresh our need for backup.
What should you back up, and how often? First, any vital records should be backed up and kept for at least seven years. These include financial records – tax filings, bank statements, major purchases, and any associated contracts, as for a car or a home. Consider any items that you would miss, such as pictures, video clips, mementos, messages, emails, voice mails, and the like. Include any media that you have transferred to on-line storage for easy access such as DVDs or music CDs. If you write, draw, or compose on your computer, make sure you get backups of drafts, sketches, drawings, designs, and prototypes. You’ll also want to make sure you have backups of any software you use to process that data. Think about the codes or keys you’ll use to start a new instance of an application.
Some software publishers provide access to their applications in the event of a disaster, so you don’t have to wait to begin restoring your workplace. However, those companies require that you register with them in advance. Make sure you have the right contact information, program license numbers, software version levels, and appropriate patches for your environment.
You may have modified your applications for your specific workplace. That is, you may have customized an application so it could work with another application, or read a non-standard file, or produce output that can be handled by another app. Make sure you back up not only the application but the specifications and source code for any mods as well.
Backup is just half the story, of course. The other part is restoration. Have you tried to restore your backups to another machine? The first part is getting the data loaded onto the new system. Next, you must have the right level of software to use that data. Restore your operating environment, making sure to re-install any patches or mods that you’ll need. Do you have the right levels of operating system and subsystems available? If you have to migrate, will you be able to retrofit any necessary mods or install upgraded patches to those middleware components? Are there any order dependencies you must preserve when you restore your systems? That is, are there any programs that must be in place before other programs can be installed?
Think of the sequence of starting with a new phone or a new laptop. You have to connect to the Internet, or Wi-Fi, or your telco for a signal, and then you start installing programs. In the old days, the machine came with nothing - you had to install everything off floppy disks. You install the operating system, then the middleware (data bases, messaging systems, email) the browser, other apps, and then add in connections to cloud-based systems, and finally your previous backups.
In other words, what would it take for you to recreate your current IT environment? And most of all, when you are done restoring the system, how do you verify that the new systems are working correctly - especially if the old system is no longer available?
Continuity of Operations - A Bit of Security for June 3, 2025
When should you back up your systems? What should you back up? Listen to this -
Let me know what you think in the comments below or at wjmalik@noc.social
#cybersecuritytips #backup #restore #DR #businesscontinuity #disasterrecovery #BitofSec