03.06.04 — Incident Response Training

Official NIST requirement content

Security requirement

a.Provide incident response training to system users consistent with assigned roles and responsibilities:
1. 1.Within [Organization-defined: time period] of assuming an incident response role or responsibility or acquiring system access,
2. 2.When required by system changes, and
3. 3.[Organization-defined: frequency] thereafter.
b.Review and update incident response training content [Organization-defined: frequency] and following [Organization-defined: events].

Official NIST discussion

Discussion

Incident response training is associated with the assigned roles and responsibilities of organizational personnel to ensure that the appropriate content and level of detail are included in such training. For example, users may only need to know how to recognize an incident or whom to call; system administrators may require additional training on how to handle incidents; and incident responders may receive specific training on data collection techniques, forensics, reporting, system recovery, and system restoration. Incident response training includes user training in identifying and reporting suspicious activities from external and internal sources. Incident response training for users may be provided as part of 03.02.02. Events that may cause an update to incident response training content include incident response plan testing, response to an actual incident, audit or assessment findings, or changes in applicable laws, Executive Orders, policies, directives, regulations, standards, and guidelines.

Official organization-defined parameters

Tailoring decisions required

Resolve these values through the governing organization’s approved tailoring and risk-management process before declaring the requirement implemented.

time periodorganization-defined time periodthe time period within which incident response training is to be provided to system users is defined.

frequencyorganization-defined frequencythe frequency at which to provide incident response training to users after initial training is defined.

eventsorganization-defined eventsevents that initiate a review of the incident response training content are defined.

frequencyorganization-defined frequencythe frequency at which to review and update incident response training content is defined.

Bare Metal Cyber interpretation

Implementation perspective

Treat Incident Response Training as a CUI protection outcome that must be reflected in the system boundary, documented implementation, operational behavior, and assessment evidence. Pay particular attention to prepared detection, coordinated response, reporting, recovery, and lessons learned for incidents involving CUI.

Confirm the requirement is in scope for the CUI system components, services, users, and external connections being assessed.
Resolve every organization-defined parameter through an approved governance and tailoring process.
Map each clause of the requirement to an accountable owner, implementation mechanism, and evidence source.
Verify that inherited and shared implementations are supported by current provider evidence and responsibility boundaries.
Collect evidence during normal operation and review changes, exceptions, and deficiencies on a risk-based cadence.

Questions to ask

Which CUI assets, data flows, users, and services are protected by this requirement?
Which portions are implemented locally, inherited, shared, or not applicable, and what evidence supports that determination?
Do the system security plan, deployed configuration, operating process, and assessment evidence tell the same story?
What change, incident, or threshold should trigger reassessment?

Evidence and validation

incident response plans and playbooks
case records and timelines
exercise and tabletop results
lessons-learned and corrective-action tracking

Common failure patterns

plans that do not match the current architecture
unclear authority for containment decisions
evidence lost during response
lessons learned recorded but not implemented

Official NIST SP 800-171A content

Assessment objectives and methods

Assessment objectives (7)

a.1.
incident response training for system users consistent with assigned roles and responsibilities is provided within [Organization-defined: time period] of assuming an incident response role or responsibility or acquiring system access.
a.2.
incident response training for system users consistent with assigned roles and responsibilities is provided when required by system changes.
a.3.
incident response training for system users consistent with assigned roles and responsibilities is provided [Organization-defined: frequency] thereafter.
b.
incident response training content is updated following [Organization-defined: events].
b.
incident response training content is updated [Organization-defined: frequency].
b.
incident response training content is reviewed following [Organization-defined: events].
b.
incident response training content is reviewed [Organization-defined: frequency].

Examine

incident response policy and procedures
procedures for incident response training
incident response training curriculum
incident response training materials
incident response plan
incident response training records
system security plan
other relevant documents or records

Interview

personnel with incident response training and operational responsibilities
personnel with information security responsibilities

Official source-control relationships

Source NIST SP 800-53 controls

These controls are referenced by the official SP 800-171 Rev. 3 OSCAL record. Open the corresponding control pages for complete control text, enhancements, D3FEND mappings, and related learning.

Source controlIR-2Open SP 800-53 control →

Source record

Authoritative sources

Bare Metal Cyber is an independent educational publisher and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NIST. The official publications, the responsible federal agency, and the governing contract or agreement determine applicability, tailoring, assessment depth, and required implementation.