Criticality of Logical Normalcy

In February 2003, Ann Deering, a former insurance consultant to the US Department of Energy had voiced that the US power infrastructure is ageing, taxed almost beyond capacity and vulnerable and it requires upgradation. A few months after she said so, a blackout on August 13, 2003 resulted in shutting down of nuclear power plants in New York State and Ohio, plunging 50 million people into 'darkness'. Black out is more than just loss of electricity. It has a domino effect on water/sewer, transportation, IT services, communications, banking/financial services etc. According to the Wall Street Journal, New York is believed to have lost close to $800 million and the estimates on lost sales tax revenue were in excess of $40 million. There is one question on everybody's lips: How to ensure that such a thing doesn't happen again? Does the Federal Government have a crisis management plan to obviate such a situation or alleviate its system against any such future disaster?

Corporates and business firms today function in a highly competitive world. They are constantly innovating to meet their business objectives and for providing unique services to their customers. But there are various threats and vulnerabilities to which today's businesses are exposed - most of them arrive without a warning. Any interruption to its operations causes millions of monetary loss to the company apart from the domino effect.

Disaster recovery plans or business continuity plans is the theme of this issue of IT Harmony. It dwells in depth on the various types of disasters that may disrupt the business, the plans with which the business firm should equip itself, not only to recover from the disaster but also to manage the crisis and reinstate the business with minimal loss. Risk evaluation and business continuity planning are the crucial elements of business continuity plans. It also talks about the pivotal role of auditors in reviewing the crisis management plans or the disaster recovery plans of a firm as it is a very valuable document which needs a close audit as any other document or asset of the company. The auditor has to subject it to various acid tests to avert such disasters in the first place. He is also responsible for investigation, evaluation and verification of any controls in place to mitigate any unforeseen disaster. It also talks about the unforeseen computer crimes and disruptions that cause great loss to the business