Project aims to help companies protect data — after a cyber attack

With the United States now tallying up to 80 to 90 million cybersecurity events a year, many companies are facing the harsh reality of what to do when they’re attacked. That amounts to about 400 new threats every minute, according to Sarbjit Nahal, managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who was quoted in an article by Barron’s. He also noted that up to 70 percent of attacks go undetected.

With cyber breaches climbing, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence has launched an initiative to help businesses protect their data after getting hit by an attack. Because of the nature of some attacks, simply backing up data could cause more harm. The data recovery process could be much more complex.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is partnering with the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) to develop case studies that outline how a company can mitigate damage from different types of cyberattacks.

The project, which is outlined in a white paper, provides methods for recovering operating systems, user files, applications, databases, and system configurations. It also includes examples about dealing with ransomware attacks, insider threats, and malware.

“Ensuring data integrity is about mitigating business risk and maintaining consumer confidence,” said John Carlson, FS-ISAC chief of staff.

The team is seeking input from businesses to complete the white paper, which is still in a draft form. The deadline for providing feedback to NIST is Jan. 18, 2016.

After feedback is received, the materials will be used to develop a NIST cybersecurity practice guide, providing best practices for implementing a cybersecurity reference design that allows for better data recovery.

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Other resources:

• Infographic: The 22 Data Center Compliance Acronyms You Need to Know
• White Paper: Why Data Center Compartmentalization is Important
• Lifeline One Sheet: What You Need to Know About Lifeline Data Centers

Rich Banta

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Rich is responsible for Compliance and Certifications, Data Center Operations, Information Technology, and Client Concierge Services. Rich has an extensive background in server and network management, large scale wide-area networks, storage, business continuity, and monitoring. Rich is a former CTO of a major health care system. Rich is hands-on every day in the data centers. He also holds many certifications, including: CISA – Certified Information Systems Auditor CRISC – Certified in Risk & Information Systems Management CDCE – Certified Data Center Expert CDCDP – Certified Data Center Design Professional