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IRO-04: Incident Classification & Prioritization

IRO 5 — Medium Respond

Mechanisms exist to identify classes of incidents and actions to take to ensure the continuation of organizational missions and business functions.

Renumbered: Formerly IRO-02.4 in SCF 2025.4.

Code reused: In SCF 2025.4 and earlier, IRO-04 was Incident Response Plan (IRP). That control is now IRO-08.

Control Question: Does the organization identify classes of incidents and actions to take to ensure the continuation of organizational missions and business functions?

General (13)
Framework Mapping Values
AICPA TSC 2017:2022 (used for SOC 2) (source) CC2.2-POF10 CC7.3-POF7
COBIT 2019 DSS03.01
GovRAMP IR-04(03)
GovRAMP High IR-04(03)
IMO Maritime Cyber Risk Management 3.5.4
NIST AI 100-1 (AI RMF) 1.0 GOVERN 6.2
NIST 800-53 R4 IR-4(3)
NIST 800-53 R5.2 IR-04(03)
NIST 800-82 R3 IR-04(03)
NIST 800-160 Vol2 R1 IR-04(03)
NIST CSF 2.0 (source) DE.AE DE.AE-02 DE.AE-04 DE.AE-06 DE.AE-08 RS.MA-03 RS.AN-08
PCI DSS 4.0.1 (source) 12.10
SWIFT CSF 2025 7.1
US (8)
Framework Mapping Values
USA Federal C2M2 2.1 RESPONSE-1b RESPONSE-2a RESPONSE-2b RESPONSE-2c RESPONSE-2d RESPONSE-2e RESPONSE-2h
USA Federal DoD Zero Trust Execution Roadmap v1.1 6.7.2
USA Federal FFIEC ITEH 2016 III.C
USA Federal NERC CIP 2024 CIP-008-6 1.1 CIP-008-6 1.2.1 CIP-008-6 1.2.2
USA Federal SEC Cybersecurity Rule 2023 Form 8-K Item 1.05(a)
USA Federal FINRA 2007 248.30(a)(3)(i)
USA California CCPA 2025 7123(c)(17)(A)
USA Texas DIR SCSC 2.2 2025 IR-08-SID
EMEA (9)
Framework Mapping Values
EMEA Germany BAIT 2017 4.7
EMEA Germany C5 2026 OPS-19.01B.1 OPS-19.01B.3 OPS-19.01B.5 SIM-01.01B SIM-03.01B SIM-03.04B SIM-03.05B SIM-06.02B.4
EMEA EU Cyber Resiliency Act 2024 Article 14(5) Article 14(5)(a) Article 14(5)(b)
EMEA EU DORA RTS 2024 Article 23.2(c) Article 23.6
EMEA EU NIS2 2022 Article 23.3 Article 23.3(a) Article 23.3(b)
EMEA EU NIS2 Annex 2024 3.1.2(a) 3.4.1 3.4.2(a)
EMEA Israel CDMO 2.0 Appendix B
EMEA LUX CCSF 20/750 2020 3.5.1-59 3.5.1-60.a
EMEA Saudi Arabia ECC-1 2018 2-13-3-2
APAC (3)
Framework Mapping Values
APAC India SEBI CSCRF 2024 RS.AN.S2
APAC Japan ISMAP 16.1.4 16.1.4.1 16.1.4.2
APAC Singapore CCOP CII 2026 7.1.1(d) 7.2.2(b)
Americas (3)

Capability Maturity Model

Level 0 — Not Performed

Practices are non-existent, based on the inability to demonstrate an implemented and operational capability. A reasonable person would conclude the control is not being performed.

Level 1 — Performed Informally

SCR-CMM Level 1 criteria definitions are not available for this control: ▪ A reasonable person would conclude this control requires a structured process. ▪ At this level of maturity, the "ad hoc" nature of performing a capability informally would indicate the intent of the control is not met due to a lack of consistency and formality.

Level 2 — Planned & Tracked

Incident Response (IRO) capabilities are requirements-driven, but are not standardized across the entity (e.g., local/regional level consistency). Capability criteria associated with this control reasonably expect the following criteria to exist: ▪ Policies and standards associated with IRO domain capabilities are formally documented and centrally-managed by the entity. ▪ Standardized Operating Procedures (SOP) associated with DCH domain capabilities are documented and maintained by process owners. ▪ IT and/or cybersecurity personnel work with business stakeholders and process owners to appropriately scope and reasonably implement cybersecurity and data protection controls associated with IRO domain capabilities to address applicable statutory, regulatory and/or contractual requirements for Technology Assets, Applications, Services and/or Data (TAASD). ▪ Incident response-related controls are primarily administrative and preventative in nature (e.g., policies, standards and procedures & guidelines). ▪ Incident response management may be a defined function (e.g., team or department) or assigned as an additional duty to existing IT and/or cybersecurity personnel. ▪ IT and/or cybersecurity personnel operate an incident response capability using a documented and tested Incident Response Plan (IRP) to facilitate incident management operations that cover preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication and recovery. ▪ IT and/or cybersecurity personnel facilitate prompt response to suspected or confirmed security incidents, including timely notification to affected stakeholders.

Level 3 — Well Defined

Incident Response (IRO) capabilities are standardized across the entity for applicability to People, Processes, Technologies, Data and/or Facilities (PPTDF) to ensure consistency for Technology Assets, Applications, Services and/or Data (TAASD). Capability criteria associated with this control reasonably expect the following criteria to exist: ▪ Policies and standards associated with IRO domain capabilities are formally documented and centrally-managed by the entity's Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) team, or similar function. ▪ Cybersecurity personnel operate an incident response capability using a documented and tested Incident Response Plan (IRP) to facilitate incident management operations that cover preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication and recovery. ▪ An incident response team, or similar function, is appropriately staffed and supported to implement and maintain IRO domain capabilities. ▪ Technology is leveraged to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of incident response operations (e.g., incident management software). ▪ The entity's Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) team, or similar function, works with business stakeholders and process owners to appropriately scope and reasonably implement cybersecurity and data protection controls associated with IRO domain capabilities to address Minimum Compliance Requirements (MCR) (e.g., applicable statutory, regulatory and/or contractual requirements) and Discretionary Security Requirements (DSR) (e.g., entity-required controls). ▪ An implemented and operational capability exists to identify classes of incidents and actions to take to ensure the continuation of organizational missions and business functions.

Level 4 — Quantitatively Controlled

Utilize SCR-CMM Level 3 criteria definitions: ▪ There are no defined Level 4 criteria, since it is reasonable to assume a quantitatively-controlled process is not necessary to operationalize this control. ▪ While it may be possible to develop “metrics-driven” capabilities for this control, the criteria would be organization-specific to define.

Level 5 — Continuously Improving

Utilize SCR-CMM Level 3 or Level 4 (if available) criteria definitions: ▪ There are no defined Level 5 criteria, since it is reasonable to assume a continuously-improving process is not necessary to operationalize this control. ▪ Level 5 capabilities should be considered “world-class” where the control builds on Level 4 capabilities, but are continuously improving through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and/or Machine Learning (ML) technologies. ▪ While it may be possible to develop responsive capabilities for this control through the use of AI and/or ML technologies, the criteria would be organization-specific to define.

Assessment Objectives

  1. IRO-04_A01 classes of incidents requiring an organization-defined action to be taken are defined.
  2. IRO-04_A02 classes of incidents are identified.
  3. IRO-04_A03 actions to be taken in response to organization-defined classes of incidents are defined.
  4. IRO-04_A04 actions are taken in response to those incidents to ensure the continuation of organizational mission and business functions.

Evidence Requirements

E-IRO-01 Incident Response Plan (IRP)

Documented evidence of a Incident Response Plan (IRP). This is program-level documentation in the form of a runbook, playbook or a similar format provides guidance on organizational practices that support existing policies and standards.

Incident Response

Technology Recommendations

Micro/Small

  • National Cyber Incident Scoring

Small

  • National Cyber Incident Scoring

Medium

  • National Cyber Incident Scoring

Large

  • National Cyber Incident Scoring

Enterprise

  • National Cyber Incident Scoring

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