IR-8_incident-response-plan

IR-8 Incident Response Plan

High-Level Description

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

It is important that organizations develop and implement a coordinated approach to incident response. Organizational mission and business functions determine the structure of incident response capabilities. As part of the incident response capabilities, organizations consider the coordination and sharing of information with external organizations, including external service providers and other organizations involved in the supply chain. For incidents involving personally identifiable information (i.e., breaches), include a process to determine whether notice to oversight organizations or affected individuals is appropriate and provide that notice accordingly.

What to Check

• Verify IR-8 Incident Response Plan is documented in SSP
• Validate all 13 control requirements are implemented
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for IR-8

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for IR-8 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

Develop an incident response plan that: Provides the organization with a roadmap for implementing its incident response capability; Describes the structure and organization of the incident response capability; Provides a high-level approach for how the incident response capability fits into the overall organization; Meets the unique requirements of the organization, which relate to mission, size, structure, and functions; Defines reportable incidents; Provides metrics for measuring the incident response capability within the organization; Defines the resources and management support needed to effectively maintain and mature an incident response capability; Addresses the sharing of incident information; Is reviewed and approved by [organization-defined] [organization-defined] ; and Explicitly designates responsibility for incident response to [organization-defined]. Distribute copies of the incident response plan to [organization-defined]; Update the incident response plan to address system and organizational changes or problems encountered during plan implementation, execution, or testing; Communicate incident response plan changes to [organization-defined] ; and Protect the incident response plan from unauthorized disclosure and modification.

Implementation Guidance

It is important that organizations develop and implement a coordinated approach to incident response. Organizational mission and business functions determine the structure of incident response capabilities. As part of the incident response capabilities, organizations consider the coordination and sharing of information with external organizations, including external service providers and other organizations involved in the supply chain. For incidents involving personally identifiable information (i.e., breaches), include a process to determine whether notice to oversight organizations or affected individuals is appropriate and provide that notice accordingly.

Risk Assessment

CWE Categories

References

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - IR-8
• 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 (AC-2, CP-2, CP-4, IR-4, IR-7) reviewed