BSI ID: G 0.5

Natural disasters are natural changes that have devastating effects on people and infrastructure. Natural disasters can be caused by seismic, climatic or volcanic phenomena such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, tsunamis, avalanches and volcanic eruptions.

Examples of extreme meteorological phenomena include storms, hurricanes and cyclones. Depending on its location, an institution may be exposed to varying degrees of risk from different types of natural disasters.

Examples:

• Data centres in areas prone to flooding are often at particular risk of uncontrolled water ingress into the building (flooding or rising groundwater levels).

• The frequency of earthquakes and the associated risk depend heavily on the geographical location.

Regardless of the type of natural disaster, even in areas not directly affected, there is a risk that utilities, communication links or IT components will be damaged or put out of operation. In particular, the failure of central building services (main distribution boards for electricity, telephone, data) can cause very high damage. Operating and service personnel may be denied access to the infrastructure due to large-scale restricted areas.

Examples:

• Many commercial enterprises, including large companies, do not take sufficient account of the risk of flooding. For example, one company has been ‘surprised’ several times by flood damage to its data centre. The data centre literally floated away for the second time within 14 months. The damage amounted to several hundred thousand euros and is not covered by insurance.

• An IT system is housed at a location known for volcanic activity (a temporary phenomenon in which emission phases alternate with periods of rest, some of which are long).