How extreme weather events affect data

Severe weather events and where they occur

Different extreme hazards are usually localized to specific regions. Some are more likely to occur over a body of water, such as an ocean. Others are more likely to occur over land, and a few can occur virtually anywhere. Some of the most common occurrences include the following:

• Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons.
• Monsoons.
• Earthquakes.
• Tornadoes and severe storms.
• Wildfires and extreme heat.
• Severe winter weather.
• Solar flares, geomagnetic storms and coronal mass ejections.

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons

These severe storms feature very high winds, heavy rain, storm surges and flooding. They often occur around bodies of water, specifically in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

Hurricanes typically occur in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. Hurricane season differs in these regions. In the Atlantic, the season lasts from June to November. The Pacific season starts earlier, lasting from May to November.

Cyclones occur in the Indian Ocean. However, the northern and southern basins have different seasons. The North Indian basin season often lasts from April to December, while the South-West Indian basin season occurs from November to May. Typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean occur year-round, with the most activity from July to December.

These storms can damage critical infrastructure, such as power, water and communications systems, which can put IT systems and data at risk if they're not properly protected. 

Monsoons

A monsoon is a seasonal wind shift that creates wet or dry conditions when the land and ocean heat differently in tropical and subtropical regions.

Unlike hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, which last over a specific period of months, monsoons operate on a summer/winter cycle. Summers are often wet while winters are dry. However, the wet season can affect data and systems in a similar way to hurricanes. High winds and heavy downpours are the primary hazards that can cause damage to data and critical systems. 

Earthquakes

Sudden shifting of the Earth's tectonic plates along fault lines causes earthquakes. Most earthquakes are so small that people don't feel them, but large ones can shake entire cities and regions.

Earthquakes can happen anywhere, but major fault systems concentrate in certain areas. The Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean is the most active seismic and volcanic zone in the world. The San Andreas Fault in California is one of the busiest faults in the Ring of Fire.

Damage from severe quakes and their aftershocks can cause serious damage to critical infrastructure. It can disrupt power grids, communications networks, transportation networks and destroy office buildings and residential areas. Resulting tsunamis can also bring severe flooding with them and further damage infrastructure. Data and systems located in buildings affected by earthquakes will likely be lost or severely damaged.

Tornadoes and severe storms

While tornadoes most often occur in the central U.S., they can appear in other areas of the country if the conditions are right. Severe thunderstorms often produce tornadoes. Depending on the area, tornado season in the central U.S. lasts from March through August.

Damage from tornadoes can be severe. Tornadoes can destroy critical infrastructure, IT and data by leveling office buildings and residential areas. Severe thunderstorms that accompany tornadoes can also cause damage through lightning strikes, high winds, hail and heavy downpours.

Wildfires and extreme heat

In recent years, wildfires in the western U.S. and western Canada have increased significantly. While they can happen any time of year, they often peak during the hottest, driest times of year. As such, those climates are the most vulnerable.

Large wildfires can damage land, critical infrastructure, buildings and homes. The smoke can harm air quality and affect electronic equipment. Excessive heat can push cooling technologies within data centers to their limits.

Severe winter weather

The northern and southern regions of the world are most affected by severe winter weather, including freezing temperatures, blizzards and ice storms.

Blizzards and ice storms bring high winds and heavy snow, which can damage critical infrastructure, IT and data. Snow accumulation can also make it difficult to reach and repair damaged systems. Freezing can cause damage to cooling systems in data centers, disrupting the normal flow of coolants and bursting pipes.

Solar flares, storms and coronal mass ejections

Whenever the sun erupts with solar flares, solar storms and coronal mass ejections, electromagnetic radiation travels from the sun to Earth. If the release of energy is intense enough, it can have severe effects, including:

• Disrupting climate patterns.
• Damaging critical infrastructures such as power, communications and the internet.
• Disrupt electronics, including computers, vehicles, aircraft, ships and satellites. 

The effects of solar events aren't limited to one region in the world; both northern and southern hemispheres are vulnerable to them.

Security concerns after a weather event

After a damaging weather event, IT leadership must ensure that system and data recovery and restoration occur as quickly as possible to minimize business downtime. Depending on the weather event's nature and severity, the speed at which this can happen will vary.

In some cases, securing the organization's websites, data center and network infrastructure might take longer than expected. This includes workstations, specialized systems and other important business resources. In these cases, it's essential to protect data networks and associated perimeters from cyberattacks that might occur during the confusion. 

Access to cloud resources that back up primary infrastructure elements can save organizations from ransomware attacks, DDOS attacks or other malicious events. Activate these resources as soon as possible to minimize the chance of cyberattacks. 

Protecting data integrity after a weather event

Data integrity is also critical to protect. Lightning surges can compromise systems and data. Buildings without proper lightning protection put on-premises systems at risk of power surges that could damage these resources. Data centers and their systems should be properly grounded. Lightning arresters should be in place and power protection devices -- such as surge suppressors and line conditioners -- should be deployed. Design power distribution units to absorb power surges and protect servers, storage devices and networking equipment.

Further protect data integrity by backing up critical data and systems to an alternate location, such as a cloud service or backup data center. Ensure the organization maintains recovery point objectives for mission-critical data.

Paul Kirvan, FBCI, CISA, is an independent consultant and technical writer with more than 35 years of experience in business continuity, disaster recovery, resilience, cybersecurity, GRC, telecom and technical writing.