164.308(a)(5) Administrative Safeguards

Security Incident Procedures

Critical Risk Complex High

Implement policies and procedures to address security incidents.

Implementation Guidance

Develop and implement comprehensive security incident procedures including:
• Incident detection and reporting procedures
• Incident response team roles and responsibilities
• Incident classification and prioritization
• Incident containment and mitigation procedures
• Incident investigation and analysis procedures
• Incident documentation and reporting requirements
• Post-incident review and improvement procedures

Key components:
- Incident response plan
- Incident response team
- Incident detection and reporting
- Incident classification system
- Incident containment procedures
- Incident documentation requirements

Required Documentation

• Security incident response plan
• Incident response team roles and responsibilities
• Incident detection and reporting procedures
• Incident classification and prioritization procedures
• Incident containment and mitigation procedures
• Incident investigation and analysis procedures
• Incident documentation and reporting requirements
• Post-incident review procedures

Best Practices

• Develop comprehensive incident response plan
• Establish trained incident response team
• Implement effective incident detection and reporting
• Use clear incident classification system
• Develop effective containment procedures
• Document all incident activities
• Conduct regular post-incident reviews
• Regular testing and updating of procedures

Common Violations

• Lack of security incident response plan
• Inadequate incident detection and reporting procedures
• Insufficient incident response team training
• Poor incident classification and prioritization
• Inadequate incident containment procedures
• Insufficient incident documentation
• Lack of post-incident review and improvement

Testing Procedures

• Review security incident response plan
• Test incident detection and reporting procedures
• Verify incident response team training
• Test incident classification and prioritization
• Review incident containment procedures
• Verify incident documentation requirements
• Test post-incident review procedures
• Conduct incident response exercises

Implementation Resources

Download expert-developed templates and checklists to implement this control:

Quick Facts

Control ID 164.308(a)(5)
Category Administrative Safeguards
Risk Level Critical
Difficulty Complex
Est. Cost High
Timeframe 3-6 months
Last Updated Mar 1, 2026

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