Cyber threats: can ECM help prepare?

I had the opportunity to visit the International Spy Museum while in Washington, DC over the weekend. It is an interesting place to visit and look at the history of espionage over the centuries. Topics like crytopgraphy, disguise and devices provide insight on infiltration methods and information gathering. At one point along the journey, we were presented with the concept of cyber threats and how they are more of a reality today than ever before. I have always been aware of the possibility and in fact the movies have even depicted how it might occur, but this time, presented in this way, the thought of it has been sitting in the back of my mind playing over and over.

 

Finally it came to me why this thought is lingering. I asked myself a simple question, is what we do in ECM a way to help prepare for this type of situation. I know ECM cannot prevent such threats, but if such an event were to happen, could ECM help minimize the impact on businesses and how? This is a fundamental question I normally ask when discussing disaster preparedness from natural disaster as well, how could ECM help from a business continuity perspective? The answer is basically the same, while ECM cannot be presented as a cure to disaster preparedness it can be positioned as a tool to assist in restoring business activity.

 

Many of the ECM environments I have been exposed to over the years leverage technologies that provide back up and recovery capabilities designed to restore the content structures to their useable form. In fact several of them actually combine indices, content and basic search capabilities on the back-up media itself making it more like that of an archival tool. I have seen this in action in Florida where a hurricane passes through, telephone access is down and even the power is out. In one case the business owner set up a table, chairs and a generator to power a light and his notebook PC to service his clients using the back-up media from his ECM software. He was able to search for client files and provide critical insurance coverage information that his clients needed to fully understand their levels of coverage.

 

In my view, while there can be no guarantee this is the best approach, I think the same could apply for cyber attacks. If an ECM environment is implemented and managed properly, and the technology employed supports the type of functionality I described, ECM could in fact serve as a means to assist in business restoration should the unthinkable become reality. We cannot predict the future nor can we anticipate every threat or outcome, but we can take steps that will hopefully minimize the impact.

 

What say you? How do you prepare for business continuity? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Looking to increase your level of knowledge? Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

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Join us for the ERM Certificate course in:

 

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We look forward to seeing you there.

 

Are you going to DocuBusiness ‘09 in Milan Italy? If so, be sure to attend a great session by Doug Miles, Research Director for AIIM. Doug is also conducting a new survey on BPM and you can participate by simply going to www.aiimhost.com/survey and answer the series of questions presented.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.