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NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 · IR-1

Policy and Procedures

US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) · cited in 21 of our lessons

Explanation

What it asks for. The organisation must develop, document and disseminate an incident response policy and procedures, designate an official to manage them, and review and update them at defined frequencies and after relevant events.

In practice. Doing this well means a short policy stating scope, authority and responsibilities for incident response, supported by procedures and playbooks, owned by a named manager. Auditors expect the approved policy, evidence of communication to staff and review records. This is the governance layer behind the incident management requirements in ISO/IEC 27001, NIS2 and DORA. Procedures should link to legal and regulatory reporting duties.

Common gaps. Policies are often not updated after major incidents or regulatory changes. Responsibilities in the policy may not match the actual team structure. Staff outside the security team may not know the policy exists.

Open SP 800-53 at NIST
The official text
a. Develop, document, and disseminate to [Assignment: organization-defined organization-defined personnel or roles]: 1. [Selection: organization-level; mission/business process-level; system-level] incident response policy that: (a) Addresses purpose, scope, roles, responsibilities, management commitment, coordination among organizational entities, and compliance; and (b) Is consistent with applicable laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines; and 2. Procedures to facilitate the implementation of the incident response policy and the associated incident response controls; b. Designate an [Assignment: organization-defined official] to manage the development, documentation, and dissemination of the incident response policy and procedures; and c. Review and update the current incident response: 1. Policy [Assignment: organization-defined frequency] and following [Assignment: organization-defined events] ; and 2. Procedures [Assignment: organization-defined frequency] and following [Assignment: organization-defined events]. Discussion: Incident response policy and procedures address the controls in the IR family that are implemented within systems and organizations. The risk management strategy is an important factor in establishing such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures contribute to security and privacy assurance. Therefore, it is important that security and privacy programs collaborate on the development of incident response policy and procedures. Security and privacy program policies and procedures at the organization level are preferable, in general, and may obviate the need for mission- or system-specific policies and procedures. The policy can be included as part of the general security and privacy policy or be represented by multiple policies that reflect the complex nature of organizations. Procedures can be established for security and privacy programs, for mission or business processes, and for systems, if needed. Procedures describe how the policies or controls are implemented and can be directed at the individual or role that is the object of the procedure. Procedures can be documented in system security and privacy plans or in one or more separate documents. Events that may precipitate an update to incident response policy and procedures include assessment or audit findings, security incidents or breaches, or changes in laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines. Simply restating controls does not constitute an organizational policy or procedure.

From NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, a work of the US government in the public domain.

Lessons that cite it

Real incidents where this item mattered: the latest 12 of 21.