Business Continuity Trends for 2012

What's in store for us in 2012? Many experts feel it will be more of the types of disasters we saw in 2011, but with some additions and differences. This week we're looking at trends in business continuity, regulatory compliance, security, etc. If you are updating your BC plan this year, you might want to see what's new that you should plan for in the revision.

This annual survey uncovers the latest trends in disaster recovery and business continuity. (Item #1)   Continuity Central makes five predictions for the big issues that may impact business continuity in 2012. (Item #2)   Regulatory compliance could be the top issue for information security. (Item #3)  

Social engineering and data mining are huge security concerns in 2012. (Item #4)   These info security trends represent challenges to meet this year. (Item #5)   Some of the hottest trends in the cloud data space will affect disaster recovery. (Item #6)  

Video special: If business travel is a big part of your organization's business, this video may be of interest. (Item #7)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Top Trends in Business Continuity

The study annually surveys information technology executives in the U.S. and abroad to learn more about the latest trends in disaster recovery and business continuity. This year, 84 percent of U.S. companies surveyed reported they have plans in place to deal with unexpected disruptions, an increase of more than 10 percentage points over the last five years.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0943.html

2. 2012's top stories...

If there is one over-arching theme to the lessons learned from 2011, it might be the repetitive highlighting of the inter-dependencies that exist between organizations within what is now, more than ever, a global supply chain. What can we expect in 2012? In many ways the answer will be 'more of the same.' However, while the background noise might be the same in 2012 as 2011 there seem to be some specific themes emerging, which it seems relatively safe to claim as our 'predictions' for the big issues of 2012.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0944.html

3. Regulatory Compliance Forecasted to be Top 2011-2012 Business Issue

According to a recent survey announced by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) at this year's InfoSec conference in London, regulatory compliance will be the top business issue affecting enterprise information security professionals in the next 12 to 18 months. ISACA said the increase in regulations, data breaches and new technologies, such as cloud computing and the rise of personal technology in the workplace, are accelerating complexity and risk.
http://www.continuitycompliance.org/regulatory-compliance-forecasted-to-be-top-2011-2012-business-issue/

4. Security trends for 2012

Digital Assurance has identified five influential security trends to watch in 2012. The results, identified by a team of highly experienced accredited security professionals and based upon extensive tests at client sites, suggest security threats are becoming more targeted and personal. Hackers are sidestepping automated security technology and are using social engineering and data mining to orchestrate attacks against prominent individuals and their corporate networks.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/news06034.html

5. Information security trends for 2012

Cryptzone.com offers its predictions for the top information security trends for the coming year:
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0941.html

6. Cloud data trends for 2012

2011 was a year of adoption, where many companies started to enjoy the economies of scale, security and ease-of-use of the cloud in managing their growing data needs. Clearly, 2012 promises even greater cloud adoption. With that in mind, here are seven predictions from TwinStrata for hot trends to watch for in the cloud data space, including some that affect disaster recovery.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0943.html

7. Top Six Business Travel Threats in 2010

This is a 41-minute educational video… but worth the time if you have it. The annual business travel threats and hazards forecast is not a country or location blow-by-blow account of tactile problems and issues affecting a small percentage of travelers. This education session is aimed at identifying the threats and hazards that without treatment or modification solutions will constitute the greatest business travel threats for 2012.
http://tony-ridley.com/risk-management/top-6-business-travel-threats-2012