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and companies. When disaster strikes, those affected
The very point of sale
frequently say, "I never thought it would happen here."
Planning is critical, and companies need more than a dusty
three-ring binder, he said.

Rehearse, review John Swanciger, CEO of Manta, a small business service
provider, said advance planning is key to surviving natural
disasters. Write a plan and share it with all employees; help
your emergency plan them understand the company's response, and their specific
roles, in case of possible disasters, he said. Swanciger also
advised providing evacuation routes, escape procedures,
By Dale S. Laszig emergency phone numbers and clear instructions in
accessible locations, as well as reviewing and reinforcing
DSL Direct LLC the plan with regular drills and preparedness meetings to
minimize interruptions and ensure business continuity.
017 was a tough year for small business own-
ers, many of whom suffered devastating losses "Establish a plan for continuing to operate remotely during
during extreme weather events. Only partial a shutdown by designating employees who can work from
2 numbers reflecting the financial impacts of these home," he said. "If you find yourself responding to an
events were available in December 2017 when I researched emergency that's already in progress, it may be too late."
natural disasters for "Delivering more than payments amid
disaster," the lead story in The Green Sheet, Jan. 8, 2018, Protect virtual, physical assets
issue 18:01:01. Updated tallies paint a sobering picture.
Marc Punzirudu, Director of Security Consulting Services
On Jan. 9, 2018, The New York Times reported that 16 distinct at ControlScan Inc., said incident response (IR) plans are
billion-dollar disasters occurred in 2017, with collective also important for cyber-related emergencies. The IR plan
damages totaling $306 billion. "Some made headlines for works hand-in-hand with a business continuity plan to
weeks, and some were simply overtaken in the public's restore business-critical systems, and the first step is
consciousness by the next one," wrote the article's author, pulling together available documentation and holding
Kendra Pierre-Louis. The 16 disasters, which impacted a tabletop exercise, he stated. "You cannot test too often,
every season and every U.S. region, include the following: or have too many test scenarios," he said. "Each scenario
• Hurricane Harvey: $125 billion should be authored in advance and mirror real and present
threats to the organization."
• Hurricane Maria: $90 billion
• Hurricane Irma: $50 billion David Ellis, Vice President of Forensic Investigations at
SecurityMetrics, said table-top exercises help familiarize
• Wildfires, Western states: $18 billion employees with their roles in a data breach and test an
• Hailstorm, Colorado: $3.4 billion organization's response to a potential hacking scenario.
• Severe weather, South, Southeast: $2.6 billion "By testing your plan, you can identify and address holes
in the plan and help everyone involved see where they
• Drought, North and South Dakota, Montana: $2.5 can improve, and do this when there is no actual risk to
billion your business's assets," Ellis said. "Just having an incident
• Hailstorm, Minnesota: $2.4 billion response plan won't help you in a data breach. Your
employees need to be aware of the plan and be properly
• Tornadoes, Midwest: $2.1 billion trained on what they're expected to do should you get
• Tornadoes, Central, Southeastern states: $1.8 billion breached."
• Flooding, Missouri, Arkansas: $1.7 billion Often IR plans are ineffective because they are obsolete
• Flooding, California: $1.5 billion or companies haven't provided employees with adequate
• Severe weather, widespread Midwest: $1.5 billion training, Ellis noted. He emphasized that IR plans are for
the entire company, and it's important to have buy-in from
• Severe weather, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa: $1.4 billion the C-Suite. "An IR plan is a living, breathing organism that
• Tornadoes, Southern states: $1.1 billion is only valuable to a company if it's up to date," he said.
• Freeze, Southeast states: $1 billion "Review, revise, practice and train."

It can (and will) happen here Dale S. Laszig, Senior Staff Writer at The Green Sheet and Managing
Scott Teel, Senior Director of Communications at Agility Director at DSL Direct LLC, is a payments industry journalist and content
Recovery Solutions Inc., said it's human nature to think of provider. She can be reached at dale@dsldirectllc.com and on Twitter at
catastrophes as things that happen to other communities @DSLdirect.

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