Incident Handling is the first requirement in the Incident Response (03.06) family, and it establishes the operational capability to deal with security incidents from start to finish. It requires an incident-handling capability that is consistent with the incident response plan and includes preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery. Incident Handling (03.06.01) is the doing part of incident response, while the Incident Response Plan (03.06.05) is the plan it must align to. Per the NIST discussion, incident-related information comes from many sources, including audit monitoring, network monitoring, physical access monitoring, and user and administrator reports, and effective incident handling coordinates across mission owners, system owners, human resources, security offices, legal, operations, and procurement.
A common difficulty with this requirement is having a plan on paper but not a capability in practice, or a capability that skips phases. R3 assesses each phase separately: preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery. Eradication in particular is called out explicitly, and a response process that contains an incident and restores service without eradicating the root cause leaves an objective open.
Where things stand for companies facing the transition from NIST 800-171 R2 to R3:
The following is reproduced verbatim from NIST 800-171 R3, requirement 03.06.01 Incident Handling. Only the formatting has been adjusted for readability. This is a single statement with no lettered parts:
The source control is IR-04 from NIST 800-53. There are no Organization-Defined Parameters (ODPs). Per the NIST discussion, an effective incident-handling capability involves coordination among many organizational entities, and incident information can be obtained from audit, network, and physical access monitoring as well as user, administrator, and supply chain reports. You can read the requirement directly at NIST 800-171 R3, 03.06.01 (p. 39).
None (0). Requirement 03.06.01 contains no bracketed assignment, so there is no organization-defined value to select and nothing for the DoD to specify. The requirement applies as written.
Your System Security Plan (SSP) narrative for 03.06.01 therefore records how the requirement is implemented rather than a parameter you chose.
NIST 800-171A R3 breaks 03.06.01 into six (6) determination statements, and it has no Organization-Defined Parameters (ODPs). These AOs are:
The single statement expands into the overall capability plus a separate objective for each phase, so each phase must be present and demonstrable. An assessor checks all six. The full guidance on assessment methods and objects, is in NIST 800-171A R3, 03.06.01 (p. 49).
Examine: incident response policy and procedures; contingency planning policy and procedures; procedures for incident handling; procedures for incident response planning; incident response plan; contingency plan; records of incident 49 NIST SP 800-171Ar3 Assessing CUI Security Requirements May 2024 response plan reviews and approvals; system security plan.
Interview: personnel with incident handling responsibilities; personnel with incident response planning responsibilities; personnel with contingency planning responsibilities; personnel with information security responsibilities.
Test: incident handling capability for the organization; incident response plan.
03.06.01 maps from NIST 800-171 R2 requirement 3.6.1 (establish an operational incident-handling capability for organizational systems that includes preparation, detection, analysis, containment, recovery, and user response activities):
Mapped against the six (6) AOs, the transition analysis classifies all six (6) as direct (minimal effort), with no net-new AOs and none with no mapping. Read that classification with care, because R3 inserts a phase R2 never called out. R2 3.6.1 required a capability that includes preparation, detection, analysis, containment, recovery, and user response activities, with no eradication step anywhere in it, so your R2 recovery evidence will not satisfy A.03.06.01[05] on its own. R2's user response activities are handled in R3 through the response-assistance objective in Incident Monitoring, Reporting, and Response Assistance (03.06.02). Confirm your process explicitly includes eradication rather than treating it as part of recovery.
Source Control in NIST 800-53 R5:
Secure Controls Framework (SCF) Crosswalk
Organizations running a single control set across multiple frameworks can satisfy 03.06.01 through the following SCF controls:
The crosswalks from NIST 800-171 R3 and NIST 800-171A R3 to the SCF are available at no cost through the SCF Set Theory Relationship Mapping (STRM): https://securecontrolsframework.com/start-here/set-theory-relationship-mapping-strm. The STRM also carries the relationship type for each mapping (Equal, Subset Of, Intersects With), which tells you whether an SCF control fully satisfies the requirement or only part of it. Mapping above taken from SCF 2026.3.
The following are issues teams may encounter rather than certainties. They are about phase coverage and plan alignment, each of which needs documented evidence of due diligence and due care such as policies, standards, procedures, and configuration screenshots:
Reasonable objective evidence for an assessment is often subjective. The following examples of evidence to address NIST 800-171 R3 03.06.01 are sourced from the SCF Evidence Request List (ERL), available at https://securecontrolsframework.com/free-content/scf-download. These ERL artifacts are mapped to NIST 800-171 R3 03.06.01 through SCF controls. They establish a starting point for discussions on what an organization needs to have for evidence of due diligence and due care to withstand external scrutiny by an assessor or regulator.
Alongside these, keep the System Security Plan (SSP) narrative for 03.06.01.
With all six (6) AOs mapping directly, 03.06.01 is a light lift if the capability is mature, but confirm every phase is present. A realistic sequence:
How many assessment objectives does NIST 800-171 R3 03.06.01 have? NIST 800-171A R3 breaks 03.06.01 into six (6) assessment objectives. An assessor works through each one separately, so each needs its own evidence.
Which NIST 800-53 R5 control does NIST 800-171 R3 03.06.01 come from? IR-04.
How many Organization-Defined Parameters (ODPs) does NIST 800-171 R3 03.06.01 have? None (0). The requirement contains no bracketed assignment, so there is no organization-defined value and nothing for the DoD to specify.
Where does NIST 800-171 R3 03.06.01 sit in the NIST 800-171 R3 Kill Chain? Phase 10, Incident Response (IR). The Kill Chain is a phased model for sequencing R3 implementation, and it assigns this requirement to that phase.
03.06.01 Incident Handling implements an incident-handling capability consistent with the incident response plan and covering preparation, detection and analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery. It maps directly from R2 3.6.1, with R3 adding an explicit eradication phase and moving user response activities to 03.06.02. The recurring problem is skipping eradication or diverging from the plan. Confirm every phase is present and aligned to your incident response plan, and keep evidence from exercises or incidents.
Authoritative sources:
Authoritative sources:
This guide reproduces U.S. Government text from NIST 800-171 R3 and NIST 800-171A R3. It is educational, not legal or assessment advice. Last reviewed: 2026-09-22.
