NIST 800-53 REV 5 • CONTINGENCY PLANNING
CP-11 — Alternate Communications Protocols
Provide the capability to employ {{ insert: param, cp-11_odp }} in support of maintaining continuity of operations.
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.
Practitioner Notes
This control requires the ability to use alternative communications protocols when primary methods are unavailable or compromised — having a backup way to communicate.
Example 1: Establish Signal or satellite phone as a backup communication channel for key personnel if your primary email and Teams systems are unavailable.
Example 2: Pre-configure out-of-band management interfaces (like iDRAC or iLO) on critical servers so you can manage them over a separate network if the primary network is down.