# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SI-17 — Fail-Safe Procedures

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/si-17-fail-safe-procedures
- 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) › SI — System and Information Integrity
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `SI-17`·high·Component: **System and Information Integrity**

## What this control requires

> Implement fail-safe procedures that address specific failure conditions such as loss of communication between critical system components. These procedures should include alerting operators and providing clear instructions on how to proceed, such as system restoration, process shutdown, or restarting the system. This control supports the Failover, Incident Response capability within the System and Information Integrity family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control SI-17

### In plain English

Implement fail-safe procedures that address specific failure conditions such as loss of communication between critical system components. In practice, this means you can prove you policy procedures-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 **System and Information Integrity**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control SI-17) 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.
-   **Information.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Process.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Fail.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Response.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** procedures, management, conditions, information, system, failure, components, capability.

## Evidence to collect

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

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Fail-Safe Procedures.

## 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.

-   [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(D)** — Security Management Process -Information System Activity Review](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-308-a-1-ii-d-security-management-process-information-system-activity-review)

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

-   [**Control SI-13(3)** — Manual Transfer Between Components](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/si-13-3-manual-transfer-between-components)
-   [**Control SI-13(4)** — Standby Component Installation And Notification](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/si-13-4-standby-component-installation-and-notification)
-   [**Control SI-7(9)** — Verify Boot Process](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/si-7-9-verify-boot-process)
-   [**Control SI-13(1)** — Transferring Component Responsibilities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/si-13-1-transferring-component-responsibilities)
-   [**Control SI-7(5)** — Automated Response To Integrity Violations](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/si-7-5-automated-response-to-integrity-violations)
-   [**Control SI-10(3)** — Predictable Behavior](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/si-10-3-predictable-behavior)

## 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 SI-17`

Topics: governance riskpolicy 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.