Disaster recovery is bigger than ransomware. In July 2024, a faulty CrowdStrike update caused widespread Windows host disruption. Earlier in 2024, the Change Healthcare ransomware incident showed how a cyber event can affect billing, operations, cash flow, customers, and partners.
Backups must be isolated and tested
Ransomware often targets accessible backups. Strong backup design includes multiple layers, separate administrative credentials, MFA, logging, alerting, retention policies, and immutable or offline copies where appropriate.
Microsoft 365 still needs recovery planning
Microsoft 365 is resilient, but accidental deletion, malicious deletion, compromised accounts, retention misconfiguration, and user error can still create disruption. Email, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive need recovery planning.
Decide priorities before the incident
Leadership should define recovery priorities before a crisis. Identity, communications, finance, and core line-of-business applications usually come first. Recovery time and recovery point targets should be written in plain language.
Document the human side
Who contacts IT? Who approves emergency spending? Who communicates with employees? Who contacts customers, insurance, or legal counsel? Contact lists should be accessible during outages, not only inside systems that may be unavailable.
Turn backup into resilience
The right question is not whether backups exist. It is whether the business can prove recovery for the systems that matter most. Tested recovery protects revenue, reputation, employees, and customers.
Can your business prove recovery?
We can review backup coverage, Microsoft 365 recovery, and incident response documentation.
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