Emergency Exercices
If there is a fire at every point in the company, the phone is constantly ringing and the management urgently wants to know when IT will be up and running again, then emergency management needs to keep a cool head.
Our emergency drills serve to check that the emergency concept is well described, that the restart plan works, that data backups can be restored and that all employees know what to do in an emergency.
Technical Function Tests
Technical tests include the testing of specific procedures or technical measures with regard to their functionality as part of emergency management. Generally, the aim of technical function tests is to ensure the functionality of individual redundant systems, such as a firewall cluster or redundant storage systems.
Typical test scenarios are, for example
- Does the restore of data backups work?
- How long does it take to restore data backups until IT systems are fully restored?
- Does failover work in the virtualization cluster and are systems migrated automatically?
- Does failover to redundant backup systems work?
- Black building test: Can the infrastructure be restarted within the planned time frame after a power failure?
Technical function tests should always be planned in such a way that they do not have a significant impact on normal business activities. In particular, shutdown tests, for example, must not cause critical systems to fail during business hours. Technical function tests should therefore generally be carried out outside business hours in the evening or at weekends.
Theoretical Emergency Drills
Theoretical exercises offer the advantage that normal business operations are not disrupted, only the employees required for the emergency exercise are not available for business operations for the duration of the exercise. Theoretical exercises can therefore also be carried out during normal working hours.
In theoretical exercises, specific crisis scenarios are usually considered. Possible crisis scenarios are:
- Infection of important Windows servers with ransomware
- An error that leads to critical damage to a central database
- A hacking attack while the attacker is currently on a system
Theoretical exercises can be supplemented by individual practical tests. For example, if the scenario specifies that data backups stored off-site are required, these can actually be retrieved in order to verify the process itself and the time required for it. However, it must always be ensured that these practical tests have no impact on business operations.
Practical Emergency Exercises
The purpose of practical exercises is to practise alternative measures in the event of a failure. The aim of a practical exercise is therefore not to restore normal operations as quickly as possible, but to check whether the emergency operation works at all.
Practical exercises are carried out in parallel to normal business operations with a small number of employees or with additional employees, e.g. during shift work. The practical exercise can take over part of the business operations, but be carried out in simulated emergency operation or represent a complete simulation. In practical exercises, the emergency operation is practiced or it is verified whether an emergency operation can be carried out as planned.
Our Service
We work with you to develop your emergency manual. We help you draw up your recovery plans and your crisis communication. We create emergency drills for you and carry them out with you.
In the event of a security incident, we support you in restoring your system, coordinate suppliers and service providers, carry out forensic analyses and communicate with authorities and, if necessary, extortionists.