Alternate Communications Protocols
LOW MODERATE HIGHRequirements NIST SOURCE
Provide the capability to employ [alternative communications protocols] in support of maintaining continuity of operations.
Discussion (NIST Supplemental Guidance)
Contingency plans and the contingency training or testing associated with those plans incorporate an alternate communications protocol capability as part of establishing resilience in organizational systems. Switching communications protocols may affect software applications and operational aspects of systems. Organizations assess the potential side effects of introducing alternate communications protocols prior to implementation.
Implementation Guidance
Original engineering commentary written for this explorer — not NIST source text and not authoritative guidance.
No engineering interpretation has been authored for CP-11 yet. This section is architected to receive it — see the Requirements and Assessment sections above for the authoritative NIST source content in the meantime.
Assessment
Assessment Objectives
- alternative communications protocols in support of maintaining continuity of operations are defined;
- the capability to employ <CP-11_ODP alternative communications protocols> are provided in support of maintaining continuity of operations.
Examine
[SELECT FROM: Contingency planning policy; procedures addressing alternative communications protocols; contingency plan; continuity of operations plan; system design documentation; system configuration settings and associated documentation; list of alternative communications protocols supporting continuity of operations; system security plan; other relevant documents or records].
Interview
[SELECT FROM: Organizational personnel with contingency planning and plan implementation responsibilities; organizational personnel with continuity of operations planning and plan implementation responsibilities; organizational personnel with information security responsibilities; system/network administrators; system developers].
Test
[SELECT FROM: Mechanisms employing alternative communications protocols].
STIGs & CCIs
No STIG checks or CCI mappings are currently loaded for CP-11. This section is architected to display, per product: STIG ID, Finding ID, Severity, Title, Description, Check, Fix, CCI, and NIST control mapping — but nothing is populated here until a real DISA STIG/CCI dataset is ingested.
Learn more about STIG/CCI integration →Evidence
Categorized from the SP 800-53A "Examine"/"Test" artifact list above by keyword — not an authoritative NIST evidence list.
Policy
- Contingency planning policy
- contingency plan
- continuity of operations plan
- system security plan
Configuration
- system design documentation
- system configuration settings and associated documentation
Testing
- Mechanisms employing alternative communications protocols
Other Records
- procedures addressing alternative communications protocols
- list of alternative communications protocols supporting continuity of operations
- other relevant documents or records