# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CP-9(6) — Redundant Secondary System

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-9-6-redundant-secondary-system
- 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(6)`·high·Component: **Contingency Planning**

## What this control requires

> Maintain a redundant secondary system, not collocated with the primary, to mirror backups and enable activation without data loss, potentially serving as an alternate site. This control supports the High-Availability System capability within the Contingency Planning family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control CP-9(6)

### In plain English

Maintain a redundant secondary system, not collocated with the primary, to mirror backups and enable activation without data loss, potentially serving as an alternate site. 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-9(6)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### 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.
-   **Enable.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Data.** 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.
-   **Scope:** management, system, protection, secondary system, capability, site, policy, availability.

## Evidence to collect

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

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Redundant Secondary System.

## 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.

-   [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) P1.1** — Privacy Notice to Data Subjects](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/p1-1-privacy-notice-to-data-subjects)

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

-   [**Control SC-7(10)** — Prevent Exfiltration](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-7-10-prevent-exfiltration)
-   [**Control CP-7(6)** — Inability To Return To Primary Site](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-6-inability-to-return-to-primary-site)
-   [**Control CP-7** — Alternate Processing Site](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-alternate-processing-site)
-   [**Control CP-9(8)** — Cryptographic Protection](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-9-8-cryptographic-protection)
-   [**Control SC-6** — Resource Availability](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-6-resource-availability)
-   [**Control PE-3(2)** — Facility And Systems](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pe-3-2-facility-and-systems)

## 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(6)`

Topics: data protectiondata loss preventionpolicy 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.