How often should we run full restore drills?

Quarterly for breach-grade scenarios (quarantine + clean-room restore + cutover), monthly for partial restores (DB, a cluster, or a critical service). Smaller weekly automated restores validate backups and health checks. Capture artifacts for each run.

Do we need multi-region warm standby for everything?

No. Tier 1 only. Pair the cost with business impact and RTO/RPO. For breach scenarios, prioritize clean-room capability and immutability over always-on standby. Many teams get 80% of the benefit with cross-account snapshots and tested restores.

What counts as acceptable audit evidence?

Time-stamped, immutable, and attributable artifacts: signed policy verdicts, backup/restore logs, screenshots from automated health checks, and change approvals linked to commits. Store in WORM (S3 Object Lock) with retention aligned to your standard (e.g., SOC 2, PCI).

How do we handle break-glass access?

One or two dedicated accounts/roles using hardware MFA, out-of-band stored secrets, and strict CloudTrail alarms. Pre-stage SCPs to allow only the minimum for containment and restoration. Every use produces an incident ticket and proof artifact.

What about AI/LLM data exposure during incidents?

Treat prompts and logs as regulated data. Disable third-party log shipping during breach, and route any AI tooling through approved gateways with redaction. Include LLM tools in egress policies and access reviews.

Security-compliance · Nov 7, 2025 · 10 minute read

Disaster Recovery That Doesn’t Crumble in a Breach: Guardrails, Checks, and Automated Proofs

If your DR plan assumes “hardware failure” but not “root creds stolen,” you don’t have a DR plan—you have wishful thinking. Here’s how to translate policy into real guardrails, run breach-grade drills, and ship fast without nuking compliance.

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Disaster Recovery That Doesn’t Crumble in a Breach: Guardrails, Checks, and Automated Proofs

Key takeaways

Implementation checklist