Mapped to NIST 800-171 Requirement: 3.6.3
CMMC Assessment Objective: IR.L2-3.6.3
What This Control Means
This control verifies that your team has practiced incident response in a controlled environment, not just in theory. You must demonstrate that your incident response plan has been tested, that team members understand their roles, and that the plan performs effectively under pressure.
Testing should cover:
• The full response lifecycle (from detection to recovery)
• Communication and escalation
• Roles and responsibilities
• Technology and tool usage
• Incident documentation and analysis
Why It Matters
Without incident response plan testing:
• You won’t know if your plan works until a real incident occurs
• Response time may be slower
• Roles may be unclear during an actual event
• Technical gaps may remain hidden
• Compliance or contract requirements for incident readiness may not be met
Testing transforms your IR plan from a document into a proven capability.
How to Implement It
1. Schedule Regular IR Exercises
• At least annually
• More frequently for high-risk environments or after major changes
2. Choose a Format That Fits Your Maturity
• Tabletop exercise: Walkthrough of a simulated incident in a meeting format
• Simulation/Live drill: Simulated attack with active system or user involvement
• Red team assessment: Advanced testing involving ethical hacking
3. Cover All Phases of Response
• Detection and reporting
• Communication and escalation
• Containment and recovery
• Root cause analysis and documentation
4. Involve the Right People
• Include IR team members, IT, HR/legal, and communications as applicable
5. Capture Lessons Learned
• Document what worked, what didn’t, and how the incident response plan can improve
• Update the IR plan accordingly
Evidence the Assessor Will Look For
• IR exercise or drill reports
• Tabletop exercise agendas and participant lists
• Post-exercise review notes or lessons learned
• Documentation updates following the test
• Evidence that exercises tested CUI-related incident scenarios
Common Gaps
• No testing performed, or only informal discussions
• Exercises don’t simulate realistic or high-risk scenarios
• Participation limited to IT only — no cross-functional involvement
• No documentation of lessons learned or plan updates
How Cuick Trac Helps
Cuick Trac supports this requirement by:
• Offering prebuilt tabletop exercise templates with CUI-specific scenarios
• Providing incident simulation playbooks aligned with NIST and CMMC
• Tracking participation and documenting test results
• Capturing updates and lessons learned in IR plan revisions
• Ensuring compliance testing includes both technical and non-technical stakeholders
With Cuick Trac, you don’t just plan to respond—you practice to succeed.
Final CTA
Plans are important. Practice is essential.
Schedule a Cuick Trac demo to run your next incident response test with confidence—and prove you’re ready.