Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Policy Template


Company Name	[Company Name]
Effective Date	[Date]
Version	[Version Number, e.g., 1.0]
Policy Owner	[CISO/IT Director]
Document Classification	Confidential / Internal Use Only
Parent Policy	Information Security Policy

Purpose

This policy establishes a framework to ensure the continuity of critical business operations and rapid recovery of systems, applications, and data during disruptions. It aligns with PCI DSS 4.0.1 requirements for protecting cardholder data while addressing enterprise-wide resilience for all sensitive assets, including intellectual property, customer data, and operational infrastructure.

Scope

Applies to:

All business units, IT systems, applications, and third-party services critical to [Company Name]'s operations.
Employees, contractors, and vendors involved in executing recovery procedures.
Physical facilities, cloud environments, and remote work infrastructure.

Roles and Responsibilities

Role/Group	Key Responsibilities
Executive Leadership	Approve BCDR strategy/budget; Declare disasters; Allocate resources.
BCDR Coordinator	Oversee plan development/testing; Maintain documentation; Report to executives.
IT/Operations Teams	Implement technical recovery steps; Manage backups; Restore systems per RTO/RPO.
Business Unit Leaders	Identify critical functions; Define RTO/RPO; Participate in drills.
Human Resources	Manage employee communication/relocation during disruptions.
Legal/Compliance	Ensure regulatory adherence (PCI DSS, GDPR); Manage breach notifications.
Third-Party Vendors	Maintain redundant services; Comply with [Company Name]’s BCDR requirements.

Policy Requirements

1. Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Conduct a BIA annually to:
- Identify mission-critical systems (e.g., payment processing, CRM, ERP).
- Define Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) for each system.
- Assess financial, operational, and reputational risks of downtime.
Update BIA after significant organizational or technological changes.

2. Plan Development & Documentation

Business Continuity Plan (BCP): Outline procedures to maintain operations during disruptions (e.g., alternate work sites, manual processes).
Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP): Detail technical steps to restore IT systems, networks, and data.
PCI DSS Requirements:
- Backup storage must be secure, encrypted, and located ≥100 miles from primary site (Req 9.5.1).
- DR sites activated for CDE systems must immediately meet all PCI DSS controls (Req 12.10.1).

3. Backup & Redundancy

Data Backups:
- Perform daily encrypted backups of critical data; weekly for less critical.
- Test backup integrity quarterly via partial restores.
System Redundancy:
- Deploy failover clusters for payment gateways, databases, and authentication systems.
- Use geographically dispersed cloud providers for critical SaaS/PaaS.

4. Testing & Validation

Annual Testing:
- Tabletop exercises for BCP.
- Full-scale DR drills simulating ransomware, natural disasters, or cloud outages.
PCI DSS Validation:
- Test restoring CDE systems from backups within defined RTO.
- Verify encryption keys and certificates are recoverable.
Document test results and update plans within 30 days of exercise completion.

5. Training & Awareness

Train employees on BCDR roles during onboarding and annually.
Conduct targeted drills for incident response teams every 6 months.

6. Third-Party Management

Include key vendors (e.g., payment processors, cloud hosts) in BCDR testing.
Verify vendors maintain PCI DSS-compliant DR sites through contractual SLAs and audits.

7. Plan Maintenance

Review/update plans quarterly or after:
- Infrastructure changes (e.g., new data center).
- Mergers/acquisitions.
- Failed recovery tests.

Enforcement

Failure to comply may result in disciplinary action, contract termination, or fines up to $100,000 under PCI DSS.
Systems exceeding RTO/RPO thresholds due to negligence will be escalated to executive leadership.

Revision History

Version	Date	Author	Change Details
1.0	2025-04-21	[Name]	Initial release

Approval

Name	Title	Signature	Date
[CISO Name]	Chief Information Security Officer		2025-04-21

Appendix A: BIA Template

Critical System	RTO	RPO	Dependencies	Owner
Payment Processing	2 hrs	15 mins	Gateway API, SQL DB	IT Director
Customer Database	4 hrs	1 hr	AWS S3, IAM	DevOps Lead

Appendix B: Disaster Recovery Procedures Checklist

Declare Disaster: BCDR Coordinator confirms severity via pre-defined thresholds.
Activate DR Site: IT team spins up redundant systems; redirect traffic.
Data Restoration:
- Validate backup integrity via checksums.
- Decrypt backups using offline key vault.
Compliance Verification:
- Confirm DR site meets PCI DSS controls before processing live transactions.
- Update ASV scans if IP addresses change.

Appendix C: PCI DSS 4.0.1 Mapping

Requirement	Policy Section	Evidence
Req 12.10.1	DRP Testing	DR drill reports showing CDE recovery within RTO
Req 9.5.1	Backup Storage	Encryption certs, offsite storage contracts
Req 11.4.4	Redundancy	Failover cluster configs, cloud AZ documentation

Appendix D: BCDR Test Scenarios

Scenario 1: Ransomware attack encrypts primary data center.

Actions: Isolate network, restore from offline backups, failover to AWS Region B.

Scenario 2: Cloud provider outage impacts SaaS HR platform.

Actions: Switch to backup provider; manual payroll processing per BCP.

Scenario 3: Flood damages on-premises CDE servers.

Actions: Activate DR colocation site; validate PCI controls before resuming transactions.