CP-8(4) Telecommunications Services | Provider Contingency Plan
(a) Require primary and alternate telecommunications service providers to have contingency plans; (b) Review provider contingency plans to ensure that the plans meet organizational contingency requirements; and (c) Obtain evidence of contingency testing and training by providers organization-defined frequency.
Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, CP-8(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 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
- Evidence of contingency testing/training by providers · HR system / LMS
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- Contingency planning policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Procedures addressing primary and alternate telecommunications services · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Contingency plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Provider contingency plans · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Primary and alternate telecommunications service agreements · Vendor register / contract repository
- System security plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Telecommunications provider contracts do not require the providers to maintain contingency plans, per (a)
- No evidence of provider contingency testing and training was obtained at the organization-defined frequency, per (c)
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-8(3) Telecommunications Services | Separation of Primary and Alternate Providers · CP-8(5) Telecommunications Services | Alternate Telecommunication Service Testing