2 cissp ® Official Study Guide Eighth Edition

 Other Regional Events 
Some regions of the world are prone to localized types of natural disasters. During 
the BCP/DRP process, your assessment team should analyze all of your organization’s 

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The Nature of Disaster 
807
operating locations and gauge the impact that such events might have on your business. 
For example, many parts of the world are subject to volcanic eruptions. If you conduct 
operations in an area in close proximity to an active or dormant volcano, your DRP should 
probably address this eventuality. Other localized natural occurrences include monsoons in 
Asia, tsunamis in the South Pacific, avalanches in mountainous regions, and mudslides in 
the western United States.
If your business is geographically diverse, it is prudent to include local emergency 
response experts on your planning team. At the very least, make use of local resources such 
as government emergency preparedness teams, civil defense organizations, and insurance 
claim offices to help guide your efforts. These organizations possess a wealth of knowledge 
and are usually more than happy to help you prepare your organization for the unexpected—
after all, every organization that successfully weathers a natural disaster is one less organi-
zation that requires a portion of their valuable recovery resources after disaster strikes.
Man-Made Disasters
Our advanced civilization has become increasingly dependent on complex interactions 
between technological, logistical, and natural systems. The same complex interactions that 
make our sophisticated society possible also present a number of potential vulnerabilities 
from both intentional and unintentional 
man-made disasters.
In the following sections, 
we’ll examine a few of the more common disasters to help you analyze your organization’s 
vulnerabilities when preparing a business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan.
Fires
Earlier in the chapter, we explained how some regions of the world are susceptible to wild-
fires during the warm season, and these types of fires can be described as natural disasters. 
Many smaller-scale fires result from human action—be it carelessness, faulty electrical 
wiring, improper fire protection practices, or other reasons. Studies from the Insurance 
Information Institute indicate that there are at least 1,000 building fires in the United 
States 
every day.
If such a fire strikes your organization, do you have the proper preventive 
measures in place to quickly contain it? If the fire destroys your facilities, how quickly does 
your disaster recovery plan allow you to resume operations elsewhere?