Cyber threat: Understand the difference between disaster recovery and cyber recovery

AS RANSOMWARE attacks become increasingly common, businesses must understand the difference between traditional Disaster Recovery (DR) and Cyber Recovery strategies.

- HEMANT HARIE

While DR centres on restoring IT operations following events like natural disasters, hardware failures or accidents, Cyber Recovery is specifically tailored to address intentional cyber threats such as ransomware and data breaches.

Traditionally, DR included elements of cyber response to attacks. However, in recent years, cyberattacks have become so sophisticated and severe that they are now differentiated from DR for several reasons.

A significant factor is the changing nature of attack vectors. Today's cyberattacks employ various methods, resulting in greater complexity compared to traditional DR, which has now undergone significant classification changes in the past decade.

DR generally focuses on natural disasters, equipment malfunctions and accidental events, so when these situations arise, organisations need to activate their Disaster Recovery Plan to ensure business continuity is restored.

It is crucial to note that Disaster Recovery Plans are often considered a component of the system rather than part of broader Business Continuity Management (BCM).

Significant skills required

It is essential to understand that the elements of cyber recovery have always existed in the IT world. However, they are now more defined and evolved, as the sophistication of modern cyberattacks requires significant skills to deal with.