Backup Recovery Policy

Backup and Recovery Policy Skill

Purpose

This skill provides systematic guidance for implementing business continuity and disaster recovery within the CIA platform, ensuring data protection aligns with business impact analysis, RTO/RPO targets, and ISO 27001 Annex A.17 requirements.

When to Use This Skill

Apply this skill when:

• ✅ Designing backup strategies for new systems or data stores
• ✅ Configuring AWS backup services (RDS snapshots, S3 versioning, EBS backups)
• ✅ Implementing disaster recovery procedures
• ✅ Conducting quarterly backup restore tests
• ✅ Defining RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) targets
• ✅ Planning for data retention and archival
• ✅ Responding to data loss incidents
• ✅ Conducting business continuity planning

Do NOT skip for:

• ❌ Development/test environments (may contain production data copies)
• ❌ Temporary data stores (may become permanent)
• ❌ "Easily reproducible" data (validate recovery procedures)
• ❌ Third-party managed services (verify backup capabilities)

Business Impact-Driven Backup Framework

RTO/RPO Targets by Classification

Backup Strategy Decision Tree

graph TD
    START["💾 Backup Need"] --> CLASSIFY{"🏷️ Data Classification?"}
    
    CLASSIFY -->|RESTRICTED| CRITICAL["🔴 Critical Backup<br/>Continuous Replication"]
    CLASSIFY -->|CONFIDENTIAL| HIGH["🟠 High Priority<br/>Hourly Backups"]
    CLASSIFY -->|INTERNAL| MEDIUM["🟡 Medium Priority<br/>Daily Backups"]
    CLASSIFY -->|PUBLIC| STANDARD["🟢 Standard<br/>Weekly Backups"]
    
    CRITICAL --> IMPACT{"📊 Business Impact?"}
    HIGH --> IMPACT
    MEDIUM --> IMPACT
    STANDARD --> IMPACT
    
    IMPACT -->|Financial System| FINANCE["💰 Financial Data<br/>7-year retention"]
    IMPACT -->|Core Operations| CORE["🏗️ Core Systems<br/>1-year retention"]
    IMPACT -->|Support Functions| SUPPORT["🛠️ Support Systems<br/>3-month retention"]
    
    FINANCE --> METHOD{"🔧 Backup Method?"}
    CORE --> METHOD
    SUPPORT --> METHOD
    
    METHOD -->|Database| RDS["📊 AWS RDS<br/>Automated Snapshots"]
    METHOD -->|Files| S3["📁 AWS S3<br/>Versioning + Lifecycle"]
    METHOD -->|Infrastructure| IaC["🏗️ Infrastructure as Code<br/>Git + CloudFormation"]
    
    RDS --> TEST["🧪 Quarterly Restore Test"]
    S3 --> TEST
    IaC --> TEST
    
    TEST --> MONITOR["📈 Monitoring & Alerts"]
    
    style CRITICAL fill:#D32F2F
    style HIGH fill:#FF9800
    style MEDIUM fill:#FDD835
    style STANDARD fill:#4CAF50

Backup Strategies

Full Backup Strategy

Definition: Complete copy of all data at a point in time.

Use Cases:

• Initial backup establishment
• Monthly comprehensive backups
• Before major system changes
• Regulatory compliance requirements

AWS Implementation:

# CloudFormation template for full database backup
Resources:
  DatabaseFullBackupFunction:
    Type: AWS::Lambda::Function
    Properties:
      FunctionName: cia-database-full-backup
      Runtime: python3.12
      Handler: index.lambda_handler
      Role: !GetAtt BackupFunctionRole.Arn
      Timeout: 900 # 15 minutes
      Environment:
        Variables:
          RDS_INSTANCE_ID: !Ref CIADatabase
          BACKUP_BUCKET: !Ref BackupBucket
      Code:
        ZipFile: |
          import boto3
          import datetime
          import os
          
          rds = boto3.client('rds')
          
          def lambda_handler(event, context):
              """
              Create full RDS snapshot
              """
              
              instance_id = os.environ['RDS_INSTANCE_ID']
              timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%Y%m%d-%H%M%S')
              snapshot_id = f"{instance_id}-full-{timestamp}"
              
              # Create snapshot
              response = rds.create_db_snapshot(
                  DBSnapshotIdentifier=snapshot_id,
                  DBInstanceIdentifier=instance_id,
                  Tags=[
                      {'Key': 'BackupType', 'Value': 'Full'},
                      {'Key': 'CreatedBy', 'Value': 'Automated'},
                      {'Key': 'Retention', 'Value': '30days'}
                  ]
              )
              
              print(f"Full backup initiated: {snapshot_id}")
              
              return {
                  'statusCode': 200,
                  'body': snapshot_id
              }
  
  # Schedule monthly full backups
  FullBackupSchedule:
    Type: AWS::Events::Rule
    Properties:
      Name: cia-monthly-full-backup
      Description: Monthly full database backup
      ScheduleExpression: cron(0 2 1 * ? *) # 1st of month at 2 AM UTC
      State: ENABLED
      Targets:
        - Arn: !GetAtt DatabaseFullBackupFunction.Arn
          Id: FullBackupTarget

RTO and RPO Implementation

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Definition: Maximum acceptable time to restore service after an outage.

RTO Tiers:

RTO Configuration Example:

  # Multi-AZ RDS for instant failover (RTO <5 minutes)
  CIADatabase:
    Type: AWS::RDS::DBInstance
    Properties:
      DBInstanceIdentifier: cia-production-db
      Engine: postgres
      EngineVersion: "18.3"
      DBInstanceClass: db.t3.medium
      AllocatedStorage: 100
      StorageType: gp3
      StorageEncrypted: true
      KmsKeyId: !Ref DatabaseEncryptionKey
      
      # Multi-AZ for high availability (automatic failover)
      MultiAZ: true
      
      # Automated backups for point-in-time recovery
      BackupRetentionPeriod: 35
      PreferredBackupWindow: "03:00-04:00"
      
      # Deletion protection
      DeletionProtection: true
      
      Tags:
        - Key: RTO
          Value: Critical-5to60min
        - Key: RPO
          Value: NearRealtime-1to15min
        - Key: BusinessImpact
          Value: VeryHigh

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

Definition: Maximum acceptable data loss measured in time.

RPO Tiers:

Quarterly Restore Testing

Restore Test Procedure

Objective: Verify backup integrity and validate RTO/RPO targets.

Frequency: Quarterly minimum (ISO 27001 A.17.1.3)

Test Checklist:

• Select representative backup (full + incrementals)
• Restore to isolated test environment
• Verify data integrity (checksums, row counts)
• Test application functionality against restored data
• Measure actual recovery time vs RTO target
• Measure data loss vs RPO target
• Document results and lessons learned
• Update recovery procedures if needed

Automated Restore Test Script:

#!/bin/bash
# Quarterly backup restore test
# Tests RTO/RPO compliance and backup integrity

set -euo pipefail

TEST_DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
TEST_REPORT="backup-restore-test-${TEST_DATE}.md"
TEST_INSTANCE="cia-restore-test-${TEST_DATE}"

log() {
  echo "[$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC")] $*" | tee -a "${TEST_REPORT}"
}

# Start restore test
log "# Quarterly Backup Restore Test"
log ""
log "**Test Date**: $(date -u +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC")"
log "**Tester**: CEO"
log "**Test Instance**: ${TEST_INSTANCE}"
log ""

# Step 1: Identify latest backup
log "## Step 1: Identify Latest Backup"
SNAPSHOT_ID=$(aws rds describe-db-snapshots \
  --db-instance-identifier cia-production-db \
  --query 'DBSnapshots | sort_by(@, &SnapshotCreateTime) | [-1].DBSnapshotIdentifier' \
  --output text)

log "- Latest snapshot: ${SNAPSHOT_ID}"
SNAPSHOT_TIME=$(aws rds describe-db-snapshots \
  --db-snapshot-identifier "${SNAPSHOT_ID}" \
  --query 'DBSnapshots[0].SnapshotCreateTime' \
  --output text)
log "- Snapshot time: ${SNAPSHOT_TIME}"
log ""

# Step 2: Restore snapshot to test instance
log "## Step 2: Restore Database"
START_TIME=$(date +%s)

log "- Initiating restore..."
aws rds restore-db-instance-from-db-snapshot \
  --db-instance-identifier "${TEST_INSTANCE}" \
  --db-snapshot-identifier "${SNAPSHOT_ID}" \
  --db-instance-class db.t3.small \
  --publicly-accessible false \
  --no-multi-az \
  --tags Key=Purpose,Value=RestoreTest Key=TestDate,Value="${TEST_DATE}"

# Wait for instance to be available
log "- Waiting for instance to become available..."
aws rds wait db-instance-available --db-instance-identifier "${TEST_INSTANCE}"

END_TIME=$(date +%s)
RESTORE_DURATION=$((END_TIME - START_TIME))
log "- ✅ Restore completed in ${RESTORE_DURATION} seconds"
log ""

# Step 3: Verify data integrity
log "## Step 3: Data Integrity Verification"

# Get endpoint
DB_ENDPOINT=$(aws rds describe-db-instances \
  --db-instance-identifier "${TEST_INSTANCE}" \
  --query 'DBInstances[0].Endpoint.Address' \
  --output text)

log "- Database endpoint: ${DB_ENDPOINT}"

# Verify row counts
log "- Verifying table row counts..."
psql -h "${DB_ENDPOINT}" -U cia_user -d cia_database -c "\
  SELECT schemaname, tablename, n_live_tup as row_count \
  FROM pg_stat_user_tables \
  ORDER BY n_live_tup DESC \
  LIMIT 10;" | tee -a "${TEST_REPORT}"

# Step 4: Cleanup
log "## Step 4: Cleanup"
log "- Deleting test instance..."
aws rds delete-db-instance \
  --db-instance-identifier "${TEST_INSTANCE}" \
  --skip-final-snapshot \
  --delete-automated-backups

log "- ✅ Test instance cleanup initiated"
log ""

# Summary
log "## Test Summary"
log ""
log "| Metric | Target | Actual | Status |"
log "|--------|--------|--------|--------|"
log "| RTO | <4 hours | $(($RESTORE_DURATION / 60)) minutes | ✅ Pass |"
log "| Data Integrity | 100% | Verified | ✅ Pass |"
log ""

echo "✅ Restore test completed. Report: ${TEST_REPORT}"

Retention Policies

Retention by Classification

S3 Lifecycle Policy

  BackupBucket:
    Type: AWS::S3::Bucket
    Properties:
      BucketName: cia-backups
      BucketEncryption:
        ServerSideEncryptionConfiguration:
          - ServerSideEncryptionByDefault:
              SSEAlgorithm: aws:kms
              KMSMasterKeyID: !Ref BackupEncryptionKey
      VersioningConfiguration:
        Status: Enabled
      LifecycleConfiguration:
        Rules:
          # CONFIDENTIAL financial data: 7-year retention
          - Id: ConfidentialFinancialRetention
            Status: Enabled
            Prefix: confidential/financial/
            ExpirationInDays: 2555 # 7 years
            NoncurrentVersionExpirationInDays: 90
            Transitions:
              - TransitionInDays: 90
                StorageClass: STANDARD_IA
              - TransitionInDays: 365
                StorageClass: GLACIER
          
          # INTERNAL data: 3-year retention
          - Id: InternalDataRetention
            Status: Enabled
            Prefix: internal/
            ExpirationInDays: 1095 # 3 years
            NoncurrentVersionExpirationInDays: 30
            Transitions:
              - TransitionInDays: 30
                StorageClass: STANDARD_IA
              - TransitionInDays: 180
                StorageClass: GLACIER
      PublicAccessBlockConfiguration:
        BlockPublicAcls: true
        BlockPublicPolicy: true
        IgnorePublicAcls: true
        RestrictPublicBuckets: true
      Tags:
        - Key: Purpose
          Value: BackupStorage
        - Key: DataClassification
          Value: Mixed

Disaster Recovery Scenarios

Scenario 1: Database Corruption

Trigger: Application detects data integrity issues, corrupted records.

Recovery Procedure:

1. Immediate Actions (0-15 minutes)

   • Stop application to prevent further corruption
   • Identify corruption scope (affected tables, time range)
   • Notify CEO and initiate incident response

2. Point-in-Time Recovery (15-60 minutes)

   • Identify last known good state (before corruption)
   • Restore RDS instance to point-in-time
   • Validate data integrity in restored instance

3. Application Cutover (60-90 minutes)

   • Update application configuration to new database endpoint
   • Restart application services
   • Verify application functionality

4. Post-Recovery (90+ minutes)

   • Conduct root cause analysis
   • Update monitoring to detect similar issues
   • Document lessons learned

Expected RTO: 2 hours
Expected RPO: <15 minutes (point-in-time recovery)

Scenario 2: Complete AWS Region Failure

Trigger: AWS region unavailable, all services unreachable.

Recovery Procedure:

1. Immediate Actions (0-30 minutes)

   • Declare disaster, activate business continuity plan
   • Notify stakeholders (users, CEO, partners)
   • Initiate cross-region recovery

2. Database Recovery (30-120 minutes)

   • Restore latest cross-region snapshot in alternate region
   • Configure network security groups and access
   • Validate data integrity

3. Application Deployment (120-180 minutes)

   • Deploy application to alternate region (CloudFormation)
   • Configure DNS cutover to new region
   • Update monitoring and alerting

4. Validation (180-240 minutes)

   • End-to-end application testing
   • Performance validation
   • User communication and documentation

Expected RTO: 4 hours
Expected RPO: <4 hours (cross-region snapshot lag)

ISO 27001 Control Mapping

A.17.1.2 - Implementing Information Security Continuity

Control Objective: Organization shall establish, document, implement and maintain processes, procedures and controls to ensure the required level of continuity for information security during an adverse situation.

Implementation:

• ✅ Backup strategies documented by classification
• ✅ RTO/RPO targets defined and tested
• ✅ Disaster recovery procedures established
• ✅ Quarterly restore testing

A.17.1.3 - Verify, Review and Evaluate Information Security Continuity

Control Objective: Organization shall verify established and implemented information security continuity controls at regular intervals.

Implementation:

• ✅ Quarterly backup restore tests
• ✅ Automated backup validation
• ✅ Annual disaster recovery exercise
• ✅ Continuous monitoring of backup status

NIST Cybersecurity Framework Mapping

PR.IP-4: Backups of information conducted, maintained, tested

• ✅ Automated backups per classification
• ✅ Immutable backups (S3 versioning, RDS snapshots)
• ✅ Quarterly restore testing

RC.RP-1: Recovery plan executed during or after incident

• ✅ Disaster recovery procedures documented
• ✅ RTO/RPO targets defined
• ✅ Recovery scenarios tested

CIS Controls Mapping

CIS Control 11: Data Recovery

• 11.1: Establish and Maintain Data Recovery Process - ✅ Documented procedures
• 11.2: Perform Automated Backups - ✅ AWS automated snapshots
• 11.3: Protect Recovery Data - ✅ Encryption, immutability
• 11.4: Establish and Maintain Isolated Instance of Recovery Data - ✅ Cross-region backups
• 11.5: Test Data Recovery - ✅ Quarterly restore tests

Practical Implementation Checklist

For New Systems

• Classify data per classification framework
• Define RTO/RPO targets based on business impact
• Configure automated backups (RDS, S3, EBS)
• Enable cross-region replication for critical data
• Set up backup monitoring and alerting
• Document recovery procedures
• Schedule first restore test (within 30 days)

For Existing Systems

• Audit current backup coverage
• Verify RTO/RPO alignment with business needs
• Test actual recovery time vs targets
• Implement missing backups
• Enable backup encryption
• Configure lifecycle policies for retention
• Conduct quarterly restore testing

Related Policies

• Backup and Recovery Policy - Detailed backup requirements
• Business Continuity Plan - BCP integration
• Classification Framework - Data classification and RTO/RPO tiers
• Information Security Policy - Overall security framework

References

• ISO 27001:2022 - Annex A.17 Information Security Aspects of Business Continuity Management
• NIST SP 800-34 - Contingency Planning Guide
• CIS Controls v8 - Control 11: Data Recovery
• AWS Well-Architected Framework - Reliability Pillar