A backup policy is a formalised document defining the rules, procedures and responsibilities for creating, storing, managing and restoring backup copies of an organisation's critical data.
Backups are essential for recovering data after incidents such as cyber attacks. ransomwareor accidental deletion.
Data recovery is a cornerstone of cyber security risk management.
Standards such as ISO 27001 (e.g. control A.12.3 on backup) or the NIST include backup policies as security measures.
🎯 Safeguarding policy objectives
The main objectives of a safeguarding policy are
- Guaranteeing availability of data in the event of loss, corruption, attack (ransomware, etc.) or disaster.
- Preserving integrity and confidentiality backups (via the encryptionaccess controls, etc.).
- Minimising downtime (RTO – Recovery Time Objective) and data loss (RPO – Recovery Point Objective).
📝 Components
A backup policy generally includes :
- La frequency backups (daily, hourly, etc.).
- The types of backup (full, incremental, differential).
- The media and storage facilities (cloud, off-site support, etc.).
- The protection mechanisms (encryption, authentication).
- The regular testing to validate its effectiveness.
- La retention time backups.
- La regulatory compliance (RGPDetc.).
A safeguarding policy is part of a broader approach to disaster recovery plan (PRA) and cybersecurity risk management.
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