SOUNDING OFF – ON CYBERSECURITY

Business Continuity = Disaster Recovery

If a disaster struck your practice, getting back on your feet and resuming service promptly is critical. That is why every hearing healthcare business, no matter how large or small, needs a business continuity plan. A plan on how to restore business operations, a recovery point objective (RPO), defines how much data can be lost before the business is no longer viable. Recovery time objective (RTO) represents the length of time your business can operate while restoring to the recovery point. Your cybersecurity consultant has the tools to accurately calculate the cost of business continuity from the variable inputs of RTO and RPO. There’s no way to predict every disaster, of course, but having a solid business continuity-disaster recovery plan will increase the likelihood that you can bounce back. Here are fouressential elements in the business continuity plan.

Four Steps of BCDR Analysis:

1. Identify Your Weak Points What are the most likely ways a disaster could befall your business? Some of these are universal, such as the possibility of a significant data intrusion or physical break-in. Others will be regional. Which natural disasters are most common in your area? Are there any local threats that concern you?

2. Conduct a Business Impact Analysis Most businesses and professional clinics cannot run without their software and network support, so it’s vital to ensure timely and reliable access to your computer resources and the use of information by authorized users. A security consultant (or, MSSP) will perform a business impact analysis, and create a list of the assets ( with each asset annotated to reflect its importance to the organization).

3. The Consultant Responsibilities The role of a consultant before a disaster includes the daily verification of integrity and availability of recovery objectives. Due diligence entails preserving authorized restrictions on information access and disclosure, including the means for protecting personal privacy and proprietary information. Business continuity is triggered after a digital asset is confirmed compromised. The goal is to achieve the RTO and RPO directives of the organization.

4. The Data Owner Responsibilities A data owner is typically the chairman, chief executive officer or head of the department. People in the position are liable for negligence if they fail to show due diligence in the implementing policies that protect personal identifiable information (PII).