CP-4(2) Contingency Plan Testing | Alternate Processing Site
Test the contingency plan at the alternate processing site: (a) To familiarize contingency personnel with the facility and available resources; and (b) To evaluate the capabilities of the alternate processing site to support contingency operations.
Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, CP-4(2). 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 NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 in the compliance library.
Base controls and their enhancements. Which apply follows the baseline you are assessed against (for example FedRAMP Moderate or High, or the low, moderate and high baselines of SP 800-53B). Text in square brackets is a parameter your organisation sets.
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
none for this control
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
- Contingency plan test results · Source control / CI pipeline
- Test of Organizational processes for contingency plan testing; mechanisms supporting the contingency plan and/or contingency plan testing · Policy repository / GRC workspace
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- Contingency planning policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Procedures addressing contingency plan testing · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Contingency plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Contingency plan test documentation · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Alternate processing site agreements · Vendor register / contract repository
- Service-level agreements · Vendor register / contract repository
- System security plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Contingency testing never took place at the alternate processing site, so staff are unfamiliar with its facilities
- Tests did not evaluate whether the alternate processing site can actually support contingency operations at required capacity
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 sheetCP-4(1) Contingency Plan Testing | Coordinate with Related Plans · CP-4(3) Contingency Plan Testing | Automated Testing