Did you know that a single cyber attack could decimate your business? In fact, according to Fundera, 60% of Small businesses shut down within six months of a cyber attack. Dental practices aren't immune to the devastation of cyberattacks, but a disaster recovery plan, or DRP, can help weather the storm. 

In today’s post, we’ll discuss what a disaster recovery plan is and how it can help your dental practice from going under after a cyber attack. Let’s get straight into it.
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What Is a Disaster Recovery Plan?

A disaster recovery plan, also known as a DRP, is a structured approach for resuming normalcy after a cyberattack or any other disaster. It applies to all critical aspects of your dental practice, helping resolve issues like data loss, and security loopholes, and restoring system functionality. A DRP consists of systematic steps for mitigating the effects of a disaster to restore normalcy.
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Examples of Cybersecurity Breaches That a DRP Could Apply To

Cyber attacks impact businesses differently, depending on the type of attack. The most lethal cybersecurity breaches for dental practices include:

• Malware

Malware refers to malicious software surreptitiously installed in your systems to execute unauthorized operations and compromise them. Viruses are the most destructive type of malware, attacking program files and critical components of your operating system. Other forms of malware include trojan horses and worms.  

• Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of software bad actors install in your IT system to gain access to critical information and hold it for ransom. With ransomware, the hackers will demand a ransom from you, or else they’ll delete the critical information.

• Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks are cybersecurity breaches where the culprit steals login information to gain unauthorized access to your practice’s digital assets. They might use fraudulent emails, messages, and login screens to gain this information and access your data.
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What Should A DRP Include?

A proper DRP is systematic, comprehensive, and has clear objectives. Here’s what a good disaster recovery plan includes:
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1. Recovery Time Objective

The Recovery Time Objective, or RTO, is the maximum amount of time it takes to restore normalcy after a disaster. You can think of it as the maximum downtime your business can afford after a cyber attack.
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2. Personnel Roles

The DRP should clearly underscore responsibilities for personnel in the recovery process. Clear roles help avoid confusion and fast-track the recovery process. DRP is easier when everyone works together towards the common goal of recovery, with clear-cut roles.
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3. Hardware and Software Inventory

The plan should also include a detailed inventory of all hardware and software elements. This helps identify what belongs and what doesn’t, specifically the salvaged, lost, and hi-jacked hardware and software resources.
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3. Response Procedures

A DRP should also outline how staff respond to cybersecurity attacks. The better you respond to cyberattacks, the more losses you can mitigate and the faster you can recover. This typically involves analyzing your security framework, business model, operations, and other internal elements.
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What Are the Benefits of a DRP?

There are many benefits to a DRP. Some of the most significant ones include:
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Minimal Downtime

A single cyber attack can cripple operations in your dental practice completely. Having a DRP can help your practice get back on its feet within the shortest time. That way, you can sidestep severe losses and ensure business continuity.
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Protect Reputation

Reputation is everything in business, and a single attack could ruin your practice’s reputation. With a DRP, your practice can recover as soon as possible to serve patients and maintain its reputation as a reliable dental clinic.
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Reduce Legal and Financial Risks

Compensation claims, lawsuits, and other legal implications from patients could follow after major cybersecurity disasters.  A DRP helps mitigate these risks by ameliorating the situation before patients can seek legal action. 
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How to Develop a DisasterRecovery Plan

Developing a disaster recovery plan, even with an in-house IT team, could prove difficult. That’s because the complexity and amount of work for a comprehensive plan could be too much for a small IT team. Instead, you should consider hiring professional IT experts who specifically cater to dental practices to create and implement a DRP to cushion your practice from a devastating cyberattack.

Do you feel that your dental practice needs a disaster recovery plan or cybersecurity plan? If so, schedule an appointment with Darkhorse Tech, and we’ll discuss the best course of action for your practice. 

Darkhorse Dental IT Is Here For You

We understand that caring for your patients is your top priority. Dealing with a computer issue, slow IT response time or HIPAA compliance requirements just aren’t high on your list of to-do’s. That’s where Darkhorse Dental Tech comes in. Our team of Dental IT specialists are experts when it comes to running a great, secure and successful practice —and so much more. Whether you’re looking for IT services for startups, or existing support and security services for your practice, Darkhorse can do it all for you, so you can get back to your patients.

Have questions? Looking for ideas? Just want to talk teeth? Drop us a line at sales@darkhorsetech.com to get the conversation started! Or head to our Contact page to send us a message. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

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