NIST 800-171 Control 3.6.1: Incident Handling Capability
Incident handling isn't reactive—it's a structured capability your organization must build before a breach occurs. NIST 800-171 control 3.6.1 requires you to establish preparation, detection, analysis, containment, recovery, and user response procedures across your systems. This control ensures your team can identify, isolate, and recover from security incidents in a coordinated, documented way.
What this means
Control 3.6.1 mandates that your organization develop and maintain a complete incident handling program. This means defining roles, creating response playbooks, testing detection methods, analyzing incidents when they occur, implementing containment strategies, recovering affected systems, and communicating with users throughout the process. Unlike ad-hoc responses, this control treats incident handling as an operational capability—something repeatable, measurable, and continuously improved.
How to comply
- 1.Define incident response roles and assign clear ownership for preparation, detection, analysis, containment, and recovery activities.
- 2.Develop and document incident handling procedures covering the full lifecycle from initial detection through post-incident review.
- 3.Implement detection tools and monitoring to identify potential security incidents in real time or near-real time.
- 4.Create analysis processes to classify incidents, determine scope, and document findings in incident reports.
- 5.Establish containment procedures to isolate affected systems and prevent incident spread.
- 6.Define recovery steps to restore systems to normal operations with minimal downtime.
- 7.Plan and execute user notifications with clear, timely guidance during and after incidents.
- 8.Conduct tabletop exercises or simulations to test incident procedures at least annually.
- 9.Maintain an incident log with detailed records of each incident, response actions, and lessons learned.
Evidence auditors look for
- Incident response plan document with defined phases and assigned responsibilities
- Documented detection procedures and monitoring tool configurations
- Incident classification matrix tied to severity levels and escalation paths
- Containment runbooks for common incident types (malware, unauthorized access, data exfiltration)
- Recovery procedures specifying backup restoration and system hardening steps
- User communication templates for incident notifications
- Incident log entries with timeline, analysis, containment actions, and recovery results
- Tabletop exercise agenda, participant list, and debrief documentation
- Post-incident reviews documenting root causes and process improvements
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
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