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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →A cyberattack continuity plan starts with the services people depend on—not a list of servers. Decide what must keep running, how each service can operate if systems are isolated, and who can authorize those workarounds. Then connect those decisions to incident response and clean recovery, so efforts to contain an attack do not leave the organization without a safe way to serve customers, patients, employees, or the public.
Start with the services you must sustain
List the services your organization provides and set a minimum acceptable level for each during a disruption. Rank them by health and safety, mission, revenue, legal or public obligations, and how quickly interruption causes harm. A service may need to continue at reduced capacity; specify what that means in practical terms.
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For each priority service, record its owner, users and dependent teams, operating hours, minimum staffing, and the consequences of interruption. Then link its applications, data, devices, and infrastructure to it. This service-first view helps leaders decide what to restore and what can remain offline while responders investigate.
CISA’s guidance for senior management calls for identifying systems that support critical business functions and testing continuity so those functions can remain available after a cyber intrusion. Its ransomware guidance also recommends prioritizing recovery with a critical-asset list that accounts for health and safety, revenue generation, other critical services, and dependencies. The #StopRansomware Guide was revised October 19, 2023.
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Map the dependencies behind each service
For every priority service, trace what it needs to work. Include applications and data, identity and access systems, endpoints, networks, cloud platforms, facilities, power, communications, suppliers, and upstream or downstream services. Note the consequences if a shared dependency—such as email, an identity provider, a cloud account, or a key vendor—is unavailable or cannot be trusted.
Keep the map protected: it contains sensitive information about how your organization operates. Maintain a securely stored offline copy and a physical copy responders can reach if ordinary collaboration tools are down. For infrastructure operators, include dependencies outside the organization, such as regional interconnections and secondary sources of critical services or commodities. CISA’s infrastructure dependency primer identifies supplemental providers and alternate interconnections as possible continuity measures.
Write a workable fallback for every priority service
A fallback is useful only if people can invoke and sustain it under incident conditions. Complete a service-by-service worksheet before an attack. The answers should be specific enough for someone to follow when normal systems and communications are unavailable.
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- Trigger and authority: What event activates the workaround, and who is authorized to invoke it?
- Safe minimum and duration: What level of service can continue safely, and for how long can the workaround support it?
- Procedure and records: What manual process or alternate system will staff use? Include instructions, forms, and the data they need.
- People and resources: What skills, staffing, facilities, power, devices, communications, and supplies are required?
- Reconciliation: How will staff verify transactions and enter or reconcile records after normal systems return?
- Communications: Who informs employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, or the public, as applicable?
- Exit conditions: Who decides the workaround can end, and what must be true before returning to normal operations?
If the plan depends on an alternate site, generator, battery system, secondary connection, or supplemental provider, record the arrangement and confirm it is available and usable. CISA’s infrastructure guidance describes backup power, redundant interconnections, and supplemental providers as potential resilience measures; they are not interchangeable, so choose according to the service’s needs.
Choose between fallback options deliberately
Where you have more than one viable way to continue a service, compare the options against the same operational criteria. This is a decision aid, not a vendor ranking.
| Criterion | Question to answer |
|---|---|
| Safety and service level | Can this option sustain the minimum safe level of service? |
| Time and duration | How quickly can staff invoke it, and how long can it operate? |
| Dependency independence | Will it still work if identity, network, cloud, power, or a supplier is compromised or unavailable? |
| Data integrity | How will staff protect records and reconcile work completed during the disruption? |
| People and complexity | Are trained people available, and can they carry out the process under pressure? |
| Availability and cost | Is the option actually accessible when needed, and can the organization sustain its cost? |
| Testability | Can the organization exercise the option without creating unacceptable operational risk? |
Make safe operating modes explicit for OT
If industrial control or other operational technology (OT) is involved, define the safe state for relevant processes and the conditions for switching to manual controls. Identify who is qualified to use them and how those people will know when to act. Map IT/OT dependencies and verify that necessary OT functions can operate if IT is compromised. CISA’s OT resilience alert, dated January 11, 2022, recommends testing manual controls regularly; operators should also check current sector-specific guidance.
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Make continuity decisions part of incident response
Continuity and cyber response cannot be separate plans that meet only after systems fail. Write down the handoffs between business and technical decisions: who declares an incident, who sets service priorities, how operations are notified, who authorizes isolation, who can start a fallback, and who approves clean recovery. Include business leadership alongside IT and security. CISA’s Shields Up corporate-leader guidance specifically calls for senior business leadership and board members to be included in cyber incident response plans and for leadership to take part in tabletop exercises.
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Containment can mean isolating systems or network segments that a service normally relies on. The fallback should therefore be designed to work without those dependencies, not just during an ordinary equipment outage. During ransomware response, CISA recommends identifying impacted systems and isolating them, triaging systems for restoration, and using predefined critical-asset priorities. Responders should examine logs and detection systems for further activity before rebuilding and reconnecting systems.
Plan for clean recovery, not just backup access
A backup does not by itself prove that a service can be restored safely. Specify who can access recovery data if identity or cloud administration is compromised, which clean environment will be used, how integrity will be verified, and which service is restored first. CISA recommends offline encrypted backups and testing their availability and integrity. Its ransomware guidance also calls for rebuilding with standard system images where possible, carefully reconnecting clean systems, and addressing compromised credentials, vulnerabilities, and persistence before considering the incident over.
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Keep the system images, software, and licensing information needed for rebuilding. CISA cautions that an image may not install correctly on different hardware or platforms, so test the intended recovery path rather than assuming an image is portable. Restore and reconnect in an order that follows service priorities and avoids reintroducing compromised systems or access.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Prepare communications and offline instructions
Assume that normal email, collaboration tools, identity services, or phones could be affected. Define primary and alternate ways to reach responders and the teams operating fallbacks. Prepare approval routes and holding statements for employees, customers, suppliers, the public, law enforcement, or government contacts where applicable. Keep essential contact details and instructions accessible offline, with controlled access and secure storage.
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Exercise the plan and update it
Use both discussion-based and hands-on exercises. A tabletop tests decisions and handoffs; a technical recovery exercise demonstrates whether systems and data can actually be restored. Involve leadership and the people who will run services, not only the security team.
Build scenarios around realistic points of failure, including compromised credentials, unavailable email or identity, corrupted or inaccessible backups, a critical supplier outage, forced network isolation, ransomware, and—where relevant—loss of IT/OT connectivity. Test restoration integrity and timing, fallback instructions, staffing, alternate contact routes, and the process for reconciling work after systems return. CISA calls for continuity tests and tabletop exercises, regular backup testing, and regular testing of OT contingency controls.
After an exercise or real incident, record what failed or proved unclear. Update service priorities, contact details, procedures, dependency maps, and training accordingly. CISA’s ransomware guide recommends capturing lessons learned to improve policies, plans, and future exercises.
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Get an external resilience assessment
Organizations seeking an outside review can look into CISA’s Cyber Resilience Review, an interview-based assessment of operational resilience and cybersecurity practices. Confirm directly with CISA whether the service is currently available and whether your organization is eligible.
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