NIST CSF 2.0 Respond Function: Manage, Analyze, Communicate & Mitigate

What the Respond Function Covers

Executing and managing incident response; forensic and root-cause analysis with preserved evidence; stakeholder notifications per law and policy; containment and eradication to prevent expansion and mitigate effects.

Respond Categories (Official CSF 2.0)

Source: NIST CSWP 29, Table 1 / Appendix A — 4 Categories.

Why Respond Matters

RS.MA triage and escalation and RS.MI containment determine dwell-time cost. RS.CO is where regulatory clocks (breach notification, sector rules) meet the SOC. RS.AN evidence integrity matters for legal, insurance, and post-incident improvement under Identify (ID.IM).

How CyberSilo Helps Operationalize Respond

• ThreatHawk SIEM (+ SOAR where deployed) — playbooks for RS.MA and RS.MI; case timelines for RS.AN
• Agentic SOC AI — assist triage, enrichment, and suggested containment steps with human approval
• Compliance Standards Automation — IR plan ownership, exercise evidence, RS Subcategory mapping

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RS.RP still a Respond Category in CSF 2.0?

No. Incident response plan execution lives under Incident Management (RS.MA) in CSF 2.0. Use RS.MA, RS.AN, RS.CO, and RS.MI — not CSF 1.1 RS.RP as a Category ID.

When does Recover start relative to Respond?

Respond includes applying criteria for initiating incident recovery (for example RS.MA-05). Once recovery is initiated from the incident response process, Recover (RC.RP) executes restoration activities.

Does RS.CO cover only external notifications?

No. Incident Response Reporting and Communication (RS.CO) coordinates response activities with internal and external stakeholders as required by laws, regulations, or policies.

Related CSF 2.0 Function Guides

Govern · Identify · Protect · Detect · Recover