TABLE OF CONTENTS
IT CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Page
Chapter 14 – General Information
1 Purpose 2
2 Cancellation 2
3 References 3
4 Scope 3
5 Abbreviations 3
6 Definitions 4
3570-001
Part 1 – Disaster
Recovery and Business Resumption Plans
1 Background 1
2 Policy 6
3 Responsibilities 8
U.S.
Department of Agriculture
Washington,
D.C.
DEPARTMENTAL MANUAL |
NUMBER: 3570-000 |
SUBJECT: IT
Contingency and Disaster Planning |
DATE: February 17,
2005 |
OPI:
Office of the Chief
Information Officer, Cyber Security |
1 PURPOSE
The purpose of this Departmental Manual chapter is to provide the requirements for Information Technology (IT) Contingency Planning to U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies and staff offices. This type of planning is necessary to ensure that IT mission critical systems and sensitive systems continue to be operational in the event of major or minor interruptions or a large-scale disaster. Use of formal Contingency and Disaster Recovery Plans also ensures that USDA agencies and staff offices have effective and efficient recovery solutions for their systems.
IT Contingency Planning
includes activities designed to recover and sustain critical IT services
following an emergency. These
arrangements fit into a much broader emergency preparedness environment that
includes organizational and business process continuity and recovery
planning. The focus of Part 1 of this
chapter is the preparation, testing, and maintenance of the Disaster Recovery
Plan (DRP) and Business Resumption Plan (BRP).
2 CANCELLATION
This Departmental Manual chapter will be in effect until superseded.
3 REFERENCES
Office of Management and Budget
Circular No. A-130,
“Management
of Federal Information Resources”, Appendix III;
E-Government
Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-347, 44 U.S.C. 3531 et seq.;
Homeland Security Directive HSPD-7, Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization and Protection;
Presidential
Decision Directive (PDD) 67: Enduring Constitutional Government and Continuity
of Government, October 1998;
Federal
Preparedness Circular (FPC) 65: Federal Executive Branch Continuity of
Operations, July 1999;
Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Federal Response Plan (FRP); April 1999;
National
Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) Special Publication 800-34,
“Contingency Planning Guide for Information Technology Systems”
4 SCOPE
This
manual applies to all USDA agencies, programs, teams, organizations,
appointees, employees and other activities.
5 ABBREVIATIONS
BIA Business
Impact Analysis
BRP Business
Resumption Plan
BCP Business
Continuity Plan
CIO Chief Information Officer
CIP Critical
Infrastructure Protection
COOP Continuity
of Operations Plan
CS Cyber
Security
DRP Disaster
Recovery Plan
GAO General
Accounting Office
IRM Information
Resources Management
IT Information
Technology
OEP Occupant
Emergency Plan
OIG Office
of the Inspector General
NIST National Institute of Standards
and Technology
OCIO Office
of the Chief Information Officer
OMB Office of Management and Budget
PDD Presidential Decision Directive
USDA United States Department of
Agriculture
6 DEFINITIONS
a Back-up Site (Alternate Site) – a
facility that is able to support
system
operations in restoring critical systems to an acceptable level as defined in the
DR plan. Sites are referred to as:
cold, warm, hot, mobile, and mirrored.
b Business Impact Analysis (BIA) - An analysis of the business
processes
and interdependencies used to characterize contingency requirements and
priorities in the event of a significant disruption of service. More information concerning the BIA can be
found in NIST Special Publication 800-34, Contingency Planning Guide for
Information Technology (IT) Systems.
c Contingency Planning – Refers to
the dynamic development
of
a coordinated recovery strategy for IT systems or application, operations, and
data after a disruption. The planning
process requires several steps: develop policy; conduct business impact
analysis (BIA); identify preventive controls; develop recovery strategies;
develop contingency plan; test and exercise the plan; train personnel; and
maintain the plan.
d Contingency Planning Coordinator -
designates appropriate
teams to
implement the recovery strategy. Each team should be trained and ready to
deploy in the event of a disruptive situation requiring plan activation.
e Disruption – An unplanned event
that causes the General
Support
System or Major Application to be inoperable for an unacceptable length of time
(e.g., minor or extended power outage, extended unavailable network, or
equipment or facility damage or destruction).
f General Support System (GSS) is interconnected information
resources under the same direct management
control which shares common functionality.
A GSS normally includes hardware, software, information, data,
applications, communications, facilities, and people and provides support for a
variety of users and/or applications.
g Information – means
any communication or representation of knowledge such as facts, data or
opinions in any medium or form, including textual, numerical, graphic,
cartographic, narrative or audiovisual forms.
h Information
System - means a discrete set of
information resources organized for the collection, processing, maintenance,
transmission, and dissemination of information, in accordance with defined
procedures, whether automated or manual.
i Information Technology (IT) –
Refers to computing and/or
communication
hardware and/or software components and related resources that can collect,
store, process, maintain, share transmit or dispose of data. The IT components include computers and
associated peripheral devices, computer operating systems, utility/support
software, and communications hardware/software.
j Major Application – An
application that requires special
attention
to security due to the risk and magnitude of the harm resulting from the loss,
misuse, or unauthorized access to, or modification of, the information in the
application. A breach in a major application
might comprise many individual application programs and hardware, software, and
telecommunications components. Major
applications can be either a major software application or a combination of
hardware/software where the only purpose of the system is to support a specific
mission-related function.
k Major
Information System – means an information system that requires special
management attention because of its importance to an agency mission; its high
development, operating or maintenance costs; or its significant role in the
administration of agency programs, finances, property or other resources.
l Plan Maintenance – As a
general rule, plans should be
updated
at least semi-annually, when significant change occurs in the IT system or when
problem are identified through testing.
Contact lists and the emergency call tree should be reviewed and updated
frequently.
m Preventive Measures – A risk
management process
implemented
to identify, control and mitigate risk or threats to an IT system in order to
reduce or eliminate vulnerabilities and the consequences of threats.
n Recovery
Objective – An objective expressed in the delivery of products or services to which an IT system must be
recovered in order to meet full business objectives.
o Recovery Time Objective – A time
metric derived from the
Business Resumption Plan developed by
the business owner.
p Risk Management – The ongoing
process of assessing the risk to
mission/business
as part of a risk-based approach used to determine adequate security for a
system by analyzing the threats and vulnerabilities and selecting appropriate,
cost-effective controls to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of risk.
q Roles and Responsibilities – Roles
and responsibilities are the
functions
performed by someone in a specific situation and obligations to tasks or duties
for which that person is accountable.
r System
- A system is identified by constructing logical
boundaries around a set of processes,
communications, storage, and related resources. The elements within these boundaries
constitute a single system requiring a security plan.
s Teams - Groups comprised of
critical IT and business function
personnel
with various skills, knowledge, and ability to perform necessary functions in
order to recover critical IT systems and business functions during a major
disruption or event.
t Testing
– A mandatory requirement for all plans to validate and
evaluate
plan procedures and the ability of recovery teams to implement the plan. It identifies any deficiencies in the plan
that should be addressed during plan maintenance.