An incident response plan is a documented set of procedures for detecting, containing, and recovering from security incidents. Every major compliance framework requires one. This guide covers the seven components every IRP must contain, what SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST CSF, DORA, and Regulation S-P each specifically require, and how to avoid the most common audit findings.

A tabletop exercise is the single most valuable piece of compliance evidence you can produce. It proves your incident response and continuity plans have been tested, your team knows their roles, and your organization learns from the results. But the exercise itself is not the evidence. The documentation is. Here is exactly what to record and how to structure it for auditors.