IT Business & Disaster Recovery Planning (CY-604 (A)) - Important Questions

Explain the nature and categorization of disasters. Distinguish between natural and man-made disasters with suitable examples and discuss their implications for IT recovery planning.

Define Business Impact Analysis (BIA). Explain the steps involved in conducting a BIA and discuss how BIA results are used to define recovery priorities and resource allocation in a Disaster Recovery Plan.

What are Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)? Explain their significance and describe the method to determine appropriate RTO and RPO values for critical systems.

Describe various disaster recovery strategies for IT systems, including backups, replication, clustering, and site-based solutions. Compare and contrast these strategies in terms of recovery speed, cost, and complexity.

List and explain the main components of a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP). What roles and responsibilities should be defined in a DRP for effective execution?

Explain the process of risk assessment for IT assets in the context of disaster recovery planning. Show how probability (likelihood) and impact are combined to prioritize risks. Use the relationship $Risk = Likelihood \times Impact$ in your explanation.

Compare hot site, warm site, and cold site recovery solutions. For each type, state the main advantages, disadvantages, and typical use-cases.

Explain different backup types used in disaster recovery: full backup, incremental backup, differential backup, and continuous data protection (CDP). Discuss scenarios where each type is most appropriate.

Describe the methods used to test and maintain a Disaster Recovery Plan. Explain the purpose and conduct of tabletop exercises, walkthroughs, simulations, and full-interruption tests.

Explain legal, regulatory, and compliance considerations that must be addressed during disaster recovery planning. Include data protection, privacy, and contractual obligations in your discussion.

Prepare a concise checklist for activation of a Disaster Recovery Plan immediately after a disruptive incident. Include steps for incident assessment, communication, prioritization of services, and resource mobilization.

Explain the financial metrics used to justify disaster recovery investments. Define Single Loss Expectancy (SLE), Annualized Rate of Occurrence (ARO), and Annualized Loss Expectancy (ALE). Use the relationships $SLE = AssetValue \times EF$ and $ALE = ARO \times SLE$ and illustrate with a brief numerical example.