IR-7(2)_coordination-with-external-providers

IR-7(2) Coordination with External Providers

Enhancement of: IR-7

High-Level Description

Family: Incident Response (IR) Framework: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5

External providers of a system protection capability include the Computer Network Defense program within the U.S. Department of Defense. External providers help to protect, monitor, analyze, detect, and respond to unauthorized activity within organizational information systems and networks. It may be beneficial to have agreements in place with external providers to clarify the roles and responsibilities of each party before an incident occurs.

What to Check

• Verify IR-7(2) Coordination with External Providers is documented in SSP
• Validate all 2 control requirements are implemented
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for IR-7(2)
• Verify enhancement builds upon base control IR-7

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for IR-7(2) implementation details. Verify the organization has documented how this control is satisfied.

Step 2: Validate Implementation

# For cloud environments, use cloud-audit-mcp tools
# For on-premises, review system configurations directly

# Example: Check if account management policies exist
grep -r "account.management\|access.control" /etc/security/ 2>/dev/null

Step 3: Test Operating Effectiveness

Verify the control is actively functioning, not just documented. Check logs, configurations, and operational evidence.

Tools

Remediation Guide

Control Statement

Establish a direct, cooperative relationship between its incident response capability and external providers of system protection capability; and Identify organizational incident response team members to the external providers.

Implementation Guidance

External providers of a system protection capability include the Computer Network Defense program within the U.S. Department of Defense. External providers help to protect, monitor, analyze, detect, and respond to unauthorized activity within organizational information systems and networks. It may be beneficial to have agreements in place with external providers to clarify the roles and responsibilities of each party before an incident occurs.

Risk Assessment

CWE Categories

References

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - IR-7(2)
• NIST SP 800-53A Rev 5 (Assessment Procedures)
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 Full Catalog

Checklist

• Control documented in SSP
• Implementation evidence collected
• Operating effectiveness validated
• Continuous monitoring in place
• Related controls (none) reviewed