The Need for Disaster Recovery and Incident Response: Understanding Disaster Recovery for Natural Disasters Versus Cyber-Attacks

Authors

Kyle Sicard, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow

Name of Faculty Sponsor

Herb Mattord

Faculty Sponsor Email

hmattord@kennesaw.edu

Author Bio(s)

Kyle Sicard graduated in December 2018 with a major in Information Security & Assurances (ISA). This research paper was completed in October 2018 as part of a Directed Study for Information Security under the instruction of Dr. Herb Mattord (ISA). Kyle is currently employed by Booz Allen Hamilton as a Cyber Information Assurance Analyst at the Centers for Disease Control, where he serves as a task lead for the development and support of mission critical systems. Kyle currently holds a number of industry certifications to include: CompTIA Security +, CompTIA Network +, Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate, Microsoft Certified IT Professional, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, and Microsoft Certified Professional. Kyle is currently pursuing his Certified Ethical Hacker certification from EC-Council and will be applying for a Master’s of Science in Information Security in 2020.

Publication Date

Winter 2019

Abstract

Disaster recovery and incident response has become a necessity in today’s technological driven business world. A significant amount of consumer information is put into businesses information systems with the expectation to protect their private and financial data. This discussion addresses the importance of why organizations need effective disaster recovery and contingency planning. A foundation of knowledge is built through the understanding of the statistical and practical implications of disaster recovery and contingency planning. The practical implications will be understood through two separate case studies. Each case study is unique in that one addresses disaster recovery when facing a natural disaster, while the other is a cyber-attack of man-made origin. This discussion will allow conclusions to be drawn on why there is a need to plan for natural disasters and cyber-attacks separately. This will be accomplished through analyzing the case studies and their statistical properties.