# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CP-9(1) — Testing For Reliability And Integrity

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-9-1-testing-for-reliability-and-integrity
- 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-9(1)`·medium·Component: **Contingency Planning**

## What this control requires

> Test backup information at defined intervals to verify media reliability and data integrity, ensuring retrievability using methods like decrypting/comparing samples, aligning with CP-4. This control supports the Backup Verifications capability within the Contingency Planning family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control CP-9(1)

### In plain English

Test backup information at defined intervals to verify media reliability and data integrity, ensuring retrievability using methods like decrypting/comparing samples, aligning with CP-4. 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.

## 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-9(1)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Code Review Testing

**Pipeline.** Require at least one human reviewer plus passing CI (lint, type, unit, security scan) before merge — protected branches enforce this.

#### 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.
-   **Information.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Data.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Protection.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** management, information, protection, review, recovery, capability, cp, media.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Testing For Reliability And Integrity.

## Common pitfalls

-   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.

-   [**BSI C5:2020 OPS-06** — Data Protection and Recovery - Concept](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/ops-06-data-protection-and-recovery-concept)
-   [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) A1.3** — Testing of System Recovery Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/a1-3-testing-of-system-recovery-procedures)

## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

-   [**Control CP-9(2)** — Test Restoration Using Sampling](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-9-2-test-restoration-using-sampling)
-   [**Control CP-4(5)** — Self-Challenge](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-4-5-self-challenge)
-   [**Control CP-10(2)** — Transaction Recovery](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-10-2-transaction-recovery)
-   [**Control CP-4** — Contingency Plan Testing](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-4-contingency-plan-testing)
-   [**Control CP-4(2)** — Alternate Processing Site](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-4-2-alternate-processing-site)
-   [**Control MP-6(6)** — Media Destruction](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/mp-6-6-media-destruction)

## 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-9(1)`

Topics: data protectioncode review testingbackup recoverypolicy 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.