# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CP-2(8) — Identify Critical Assets - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-2-8-identify-critical-assets - Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5) › CP — Contingency Planning - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `CP-2(8)`·high·Component: **Contingency Planning** ## What this control requires > Identify critical system assets (technical/operational) supporting essential functions to prioritize protection and ensure continuity during contingency operations. This control supports the Identification capability within the Contingency Planning family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control CP-2(8) ### In plain English Identify critical system assets (technical/operational) supporting essential functions to prioritize protection and ensure continuity during contingency operations. In practice, this means you can prove you policy management-level controls on a defined cadence. ## Why it matters SP 800-53 is the catalogue every U.S. federal authorisation (FedRAMP, FISMA, CMMC) and most regulated industries point at. A missing control surfaces as a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) item that an Authorizing Official must approve before the Authority To Operate is granted or renewed. This control is rated **high**. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation. ## What an auditor looks for A 3PAO (FedRAMP) or Independent Assessor (NIST RMF) tests against NIST SP 800-53A assessment procedures. For each control they expect a documented implementation that addresses every assessment objective (Examine, Interview, Test) and an implementation summary in the System Security Plan. Within **Contingency Planning**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control CP-2(8)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### Business Continuity **BC/DR.** Define RTO/RPO per service, test backup restoration quarterly, and run a tabletop of full-region failover annually. **Backups.** Immutable backups (S3 Object Lock / Azure immutable storage / GCS bucket lock) plus an air-gapped copy for ransomware resilience. #### Policy Management **Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA. ### Operational checklist - **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Protection.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **System.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Control.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Identify.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, system, functions, protection, critical assets, capability, operations, identification. ## Evidence to collect - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. - **Infra Scan.** Continuous infrastructure-posture telemetry — AWS Config, Azure Policy compliance, GCP Organisation Policy, Wiz / Prisma findings. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Identify Critical Assets. ## Common pitfalls - DR plans that have never been tested in earnest, or that depend on an MFA token only one person can produce. - Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced. ## How it maps to other frameworks Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit. - [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.14.3** — Security Alerts, Advisories, and Directives](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-14-3-security-alerts-advisories-and-directives) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.30** — ICT readiness for business continuity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-30-ict-readiness-for-business-continuity) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.312(a)(2)(i)** — Access Control - Unique User Identification](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-312-a-2-i-access-control-unique-user-identification) - [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) C1.1** — Confidential Information Identification and Maintenance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/c1-1-confidential-information-identification-and-maintenance) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control CP-2(5)** — Continue Mission And Business Functions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-2-5-continue-mission-and-business-functions) - [**Control CP-2(3)** — Resume Mission And Business Functions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-2-3-resume-mission-and-business-functions) - [**Control CP-7(2)** — Accessibility](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-2-accessibility) - [**Control CP-7(4)** — Preparation For Use](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-4-preparation-for-use) - [**Control CP-2(6)** — Alternate Processing And Storage Sites](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-2-6-alternate-processing-and-storage-sites) - [**Control CP-7** — Alternate Processing Site](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-alternate-processing-site) ## References - [NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5](https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/risk-management/sp800-53-controls) - Catalogue identifier: `Control CP-2(8)` Topics: governance riskbusiness continuitypolicy management ## Related compliance guidance - [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): Start with the full NIST SP 800-53 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs. - [NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC: a practical guide to protecting CUI in the cloud](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3): If your obligation is protecting CUI in your own systems for a federal or defence contract, this derived subset — not the full catalogue — is the requirement. - [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most commercial SaaS already hold a SOC 2 Type 2, and FedRAMP 20x Class A is designed for providers that have one.