CIS Control 11.5: Test Data Recovery
Backup systems are only valuable if they actually work when you need them. CIS Control 11.5 requires quarterly testing of data recovery processes across your in-scope assets to ensure you can restore critical systems when disaster strikes. Without regular testing, you won't discover failures until it's too late.
What this means
Test Data Recovery (CIS 11.5) mandates that organizations conduct quarterly backup recovery tests—or more frequently—on a representative sample of enterprise assets covered by your backup strategy. This control verifies that your backup and disaster recovery procedures are functional, documented, and capable of restoring data within acceptable timeframes. The goal is to identify gaps in recovery capability before an actual incident occurs.
How to comply
- 1.Define your testing scope by selecting a representative sample of in-scope assets across different departments, systems, and data classifications
- 2.Establish a quarterly testing schedule with documented test dates, assigned owners, and recovery time objectives (RTO) for each asset class
- 3.Execute backup recovery tests by restoring data from backups to isolated test environments to verify integrity without impacting production systems
- 4.Document all test results including: asset tested, backup date, recovery start/completion times, data integrity validation, and any failures or issues identified
- 5.Investigate and remediate any failed recovery tests, updating your backup procedures and retry until successful
- 6.Maintain a cumulative testing log demonstrating quarterly coverage and trending of recovery performance metrics
- 7.Report test results to leadership and adjust recovery procedures based on findings
Evidence auditors look for
- Quarterly backup recovery test logs with dates, assets tested, recovery times, and success/failure status
- Documented recovery procedures and runbooks used during testing
- Test environment configurations showing isolated recovery validation
- Recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) documentation by asset type
- Remediation records for failed recovery tests with root cause analysis
- Sign-off documentation from IT/backup teams confirming test completion
- Data integrity validation reports from recovery testing
- Annual testing matrix showing which assets were tested each quarter
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
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