Risk and Vulnerability Analysis:
Hazard/Threat
How Identified
Historical
Probability
Earthquake
Yes*
High
Yes*
Low
Severe
Weather/Tornado
Major Fire
Shelby County Mitigation Plan
Memphis Earthquake Hazard Mapping project
Shelby County Mitigation Plan
FEMA.gov
SC Mitigation Plan
Tornadohistoryproject.com
University of Georgia HRVA
Yes
High/Low
No
Low
Cyber Attack
University of Georgia HRVA
No
Medium
University of Georgia HRVA
No
Public Media
* indicated the Memphis area and not specifically the University of Memphis
Medium
Flood
Shooter incident
Flood
Historical: The Flood of the Mississippi river in 1927 may have affected the University although no
documented proof could be found.
Probability: The FEMA website lists the University area with an 0.2% or less annual chance of flood, so
probability of a flood is very minimal.
Severe Weather/Tornado
Historical: According to Tornadohistoryproject.com, the only one tornado to come close to the
University of Memphis since 1950 was in May of 1995 with minimal damage. However, other severe
weather such as thunderstorms, hail, lightening, etc… are often seen in the Memphis area due to our
humidity conditions.
Probability: Probability of a tornado is very low, however, other severe weather has a high probability as
it is likely to occur every year.
Earthquake
Historical: Memphis has felt its own share of Earthquakes from the New Madrid, Missouri earthquake of
1811-1812 to the one felt from Covington in 1941.
Probability: The Memphis area has a high probability of a moderate earthquake since we are located
within the Madrid seismic zone which is pretty active.
Major Fire
Historical: There doesn’t seem to be any reports of on-campus fires for the University of Memphis
Probability: There are sprinkler systems in many of the buildings on campus and fire extinguishers are
common wall art decorations to be used in the event of an emergency. Therefore, probability is very low
Cyber Attack
Historical: It is likely that there are often attacks on our servers, however, no successful attacks have
been reported.
Probability: With as many online processes that we have and provide, there is a medium probability of a
successful cyber attack.
Shooter incident
Historical: None to date, although, there have been many incidents right off-campus involving handguns
Probability: With over 20,000 students on campus, and with the issues we have had off-campus and the
surrounding Memphis area, there is a good probability of such and occurrence.
Disaster Recovery Requirements:
1. The system should check main server functionality and should start working from backup
servers if necessary.
2. High priority processes should be recovered within 24 hours
3. Medium priority processes should be recovered within 48 hours
4. Low priority processes should be recovered within 72 hours
Prioritization of business processes and applications:
High Priority:
1. Functionality to Jones Hall’s servers or a switch to backup servers
2. Authentication ability for users accessing the system
Medium Priority:
1. Communication with all vendors on disaster recovery process
2. Wired area network connectivity to a Point of Presence
3. Telecommunications infrastructure functional to switch POPs and route out if necessary
Low Priority:
1. Library connectivity off-campus to its content providers
Provisions:
1. Have backup servers for Jones Hall. Inter-site Failover is suggested to allow for quick recovery of
vital services and processes
2. Setup emergency account representatives with each vendor so immediate contact is available
Key Steps for Disaster Recovery:
1. Determine if Jones Hall servers are Functional if not switch to backup servers
2. Check authentication server for workability if not switch to a backup server
3. Communicate with designated representatives for vendors to make aware of vulnerabilities and
ensure services provided will continue smoothly through disaster recovery process
4. Check for Wired Area Network connectivity and contact provider if problems persist
5. Switch and route out to Internet 1 POP if Internet 2 POP isn’t working
6. Restore internet connectivity to the rest of campus
Key Personnel:
1. Jones Hall
Supervisor Data Control
Malinda Wells
901-678-3862
2. McWherter Library
Dean of University Libraries Professor
Dr. Sylverna Ford
3. Microsoft outlook rep
Live@edu support
888-237-8376
4. Elearn Support
Desire2Learn
1-888-772-0325
5. Spectrum Support
Sungard Data Services
1-877-472-0881