Business Continuity Planning in the Age of Ransomware

Ransomware is no longer an IT problem. It is a business survival problem. Sophos' 2025 State of Ransomware report documented a 74% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks. The average recovery time reached 24 days. For organizations without tested business continuity plans, those 24 days often determine whether the business survives.

Plans Are Not Enough

Having a business continuity plan is not the same as having business continuity capability. The Business Continuity Institute's 2024 Horizon Scan found that 67% of organizations have BCP/DR plans, but only 28% test them regularly. An untested plan is a guess. TATER's BCP/DR module addresses this gap by treating plans as living documents that require regular validation.

Business Impact Analysis

TATER's BIA component helps organizations identify critical business processes, assess the financial and operational impact of their disruption, and establish recovery priorities. Each process is linked to supporting IT systems, key personnel, and upstream/downstream dependencies. This structured analysis ensures that when an incident occurs, recovery efforts focus on the most business-critical functions first.

"A business continuity plan that has never been tested is not a plan. It is a liability."

Exercise Tracking and Lessons Learned

TATER tracks three categories of BCP/DR exercises: tabletop exercises (discussion-based), walkthroughs (step-by-step procedure review), and full simulations (live scenario execution). Each exercise records participants, scenarios, findings, and lessons learned. Over time, this creates an evidence trail that demonstrates organizational readiness, one of the most common audit requirements for ISO 22301, SOC 2, and regulatory examinations.