After an incident is contained and eradicated, you have a documented path back to normal operations, and evidence you can actually get there. Recovery covers restoring systems from known-good backups, validating integrity before bringing services back online, and running a post-incident review so the same failure mode doesn't recur. The backup restore test is the evidence auditors will look for even when no incident occurred.
These are typical controls and implementation steps. Your systems and environment may differ.
Typical Control Backup and recovery with tested restore capability
Implementation Steps
Configure automated daily backups for all production databases and file stores with a defined retention period (minimum 30 days for SOC 2; 90+ days is safer for most auditors)
Store backups in a separate account or region from production, cross-account S3 replication or a dedicated backup account prevents an attacker with production access from deleting backups
Run a restore test at least annually: pick a representative database or volume, restore to a non-production environment, and confirm data integrity with a checksum or application-level validation
Document the restore test: what was restored, to where, how long it took, validation method, and result, this document is the audit artifact
When we add ISO 42001 and ISO 27001, you'll see which controls map to this criterion.
ISO
ISO 42001
AI Management Systems
ISO
ISO 27001
Information Security
Mapping data will appear here automatically when the frameworks are published.
CC8.1
Authorized change management process
Change Management
8 evidence2 controls
CC9.1
Risk mitigation for business disruptions
Risk Mitigation
4 evidence1 control
CC9.2
Vendor and business partner risk management
Risk Mitigation
4 evidence1 control
Help us build what matters.
Vote for the next framework, subscribe for updates, and let us know if you'd contribute.
What should we add next?
Vote for the framework you need most.
0
ISO 42001
0
ISO 27001
0
CMMC
0
CPCSC
Stay Updated
Get notified when new frameworks and features are added.
On-premises implementation and evidence
Backup and recovery with tested restore capability
Implementation steps
Implement daily incremental and weekly full backups for all production servers and the MSSQL database; verify backup jobs complete via your SIEM/monitoring platform or a monitoring agent
Store at least one backup copy offsite or in cloud object storage (e.g., Backblaze B2, AWS S3 Glacier), on-site only backup fails the 3-2-1 rule auditors expect
Perform an annual backup restore test: restore the most critical dataset (e.g., the production database) to a spare or staging system; record the RTO achieved and compare to the BCDR policy target
After any security incident involving data compromise, restore from a pre-incident backup and validate that malicious artifacts are absent before returning the system to production
