sc-47-alternate-communications-paths

name	SC-47_alternate-communications-paths
description	Establish [organization-defined] for system operations organizational command and control.
category	configuration
version	5.2.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["nist","sp800-53","rev5","sc-47","sc"]
tech_stack	["aws","azure","gcp","linux","windows","network"]
cwe_ids	["CWE-311"]
chains_with	["CP-2","CP-8"]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{"CP-2":"Chain with CP-2 for comprehensive security coverage","CP-8":"Chain with CP-8 for comprehensive security coverage"}

SC-47 Alternate Communications Paths

High-Level Description

Family: System and Communications Protection (SC) Framework: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5

An incident, whether adversarial- or nonadversarial-based, can disrupt established communications paths used for system operations and organizational command and control. Alternate communications paths reduce the risk of all communications paths being affected by the same incident. To compound the problem, the inability of organizational officials to obtain timely information about disruptions or to provide timely direction to operational elements after a communications path incident, can impact the ability of the organization to respond to such incidents in a timely manner. Establishing alternate communications paths for command and control purposes, including designating alternative decision makers if primary decision makers are unavailable and establishing the extent and limitations of their actions, can greatly facilitate the organization’s ability to continue to operate and take appropriate actions during an incident.

What to Check

• Verify SC-47 Alternate Communications Paths is documented in SSP
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for SC-47

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for SC-47 implementation details. Verify the organization has documented how this control is satisfied.

Step 2: Validate Implementation

# For cloud environments, use cloud-audit-mcp tools
# For on-premises, review system configurations directly

# Example: Check if account management policies exist
grep -r "account.management\|access.control" /etc/security/ 2>/dev/null

Step 3: Test Operating Effectiveness

Verify the control is actively functioning, not just documented. Check logs, configurations, and operational evidence.

Tools

Tool	Purpose	Usage
cloud-audit-mcp	Check encryption and network controls	cloud_audit_encryption
nmap	Network scanning	nmap -sV --script ssl-enum-ciphers

Remediation Guide

Control Statement

Establish [organization-defined] for system operations organizational command and control.