03.06.01
Incident Handling
Apply incident handling to prepare the organization to identify, report, contain, and learn from security incidents for CPCSC Level 2 readiness.
CPCSC Level 2 Control
Last updated June 25, 2026
03.06.03Incident response
CPCSC Level 2 03.06.03: Incident Response Testing
Apply incident response testing to prepare the organization to identify, report, contain, and learn from security incidents for CPCSC Level 2 readiness. This guide separates the official ITSP.10.171 control language from practical implementation, evidence, auditor questions, and related controls.
Formal Control Language
Official ITSP.10.171 wording for 03.06.03. Use the Cyber Centre publication and contract requirements as the source of truth for certification, assessment, or procurement submissions.
- Test the effectiveness of the incident response capability [Assignment: organization-defined frequency].
Contains information sourced from Government of Canada material used under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
What This Means In Plain English
Incident Response Testing is part of the CPCSC Level 2 Incident response family. This is about showing the organization can recognize, escalate, report, contain, and learn from incidents involving specified information.
For a founder, CISO, engineer, or compliance owner, the practical question is whether incident response testing is visible in real operating evidence: a setting, workflow, ticket, log, approval, review, or exception record that can survive an external assessment.
Level 2 is different from Level 1 because the evidence has to survive an external assessment. A policy statement helps, but the stronger answer is a record that shows who did the work, when it ran, what system setting or workflow enforced it, and how exceptions were handled.
How To Implement It
1
Define the in-scope systems, owners, users, vendors, and data flows affected by incident response testing.
2
Maintain an incident plan, train response roles, test the process, define reporting paths, and keep incident records from triage through lessons learned.
3
Translate the formal requirement into one or two operating procedures: who performs it, how often, where it is recorded, and who approves exceptions.
4
Configure the relevant systems so the control is enforced by identity, endpoint, cloud, network, ticketing, monitoring, vendor, or documentation workflows rather than memory.
5
Keep evidence in a consistent folder, GRC system, ticket queue, or audit workspace so an assessor can trace the control from requirement to implementation to review.
Evidence Normally Gathered
Incident Response Testing: incident response plan.
Incident Response Testing: tabletop exercise records.
Incident Response Testing: training completion reports.
Incident Response Testing: incident tickets.
Incident Response Testing: communication templates.
Incident Response Testing: lessons learned notes.
Incident Response Testing: owner assignment and review cadence.
Incident Response Testing: exception, remediation, or POA&M records when the control is not fully implemented.
Common Auditor Questions
Where is incident response testing implemented in the in-scope environment?
Who owns incident response testing, and how do they know it is operating?
Show the evidence that proves incident response testing ran during the assessment period.
What happens when incident response testing fails, is bypassed, or has an exception?
How does this control connect to the system security plan, risk register, POA&M, and related CPCSC controls?
Sources
Source and attribution.
Formal control language is sourced from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security ITSP.10.171 publication. CPCSC Level 2 assessment context references the Government of Canada CPCSC program overview and ITSP.10.171-01 assessment guidance.
CPCSC Program OverviewITSP.10.171ITSP.10.171-01Open Government Licence - Canada