BR-4 Regularly test backup
Perform periodic data recovery tests against backups to verify the backup configuration and the availability of backup data meet the defined recovery time and recovery point objectives.
Source: Azure Security Benchmark v3 (renamed Microsoft cloud security benchmark), BR-4. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open Azure Security Benchmark v3 (renamed Microsoft cloud security benchmark) in the compliance library.
These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.
system holds itEvidence a system already holds
- Restore test schedule and completed test records · Backup / DR tooling
- Defect log and remediation from failed tests · Backup / DR tooling
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
none for this control
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- Measured restore time compared with the recovery time objective · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Data currency of the restored copy compared with the recovery point objective · Policy repository / GRC workspace
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- backups verified only by job success status, never by actual restore
- tests restore a small sample that does not exercise the real recovery path
- measured restore time never compared with the stated objective
Do this for your whole sheet
Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.
Build my evidence sheetBR-3 Monitor backups · DP-1 Discover, classify, and label sensitive data