Active

Exercise Framework

The organization shall establish a security awareness exercise framework that defines the structures, processes, and practices for conducting security awareness exercises and simulations. The framework shall articulate how exercises are planned, conducted, and governed, providing the foundation for all security awareness exercise activities.

Requirement ID
SAT-004-R001
Parent Control
SAT-004
Domain Code
SAT

Requirement Details & Guidance

SAT-004-R001 · SAT-004
Why This Requirement Exists

This requirement exists to establish governance for planning, conducting, measuring, and improving security awareness exercises, ensuring personnel security awareness and behavior are managed consistently and measurably.

Implementation Guidance

Establish and document the process to establish governance for planning, conducting, measuring, and improving security awareness exercises. Define accountable owners, target audiences, required inputs and outputs, delivery or assessment criteria, frequency or triggers, completion requirements, evidence and retention requirements, monitoring, reporting, review, and escalation. Align content and activities with organizational risks, incidents, policies, and emerging threats.

Practical Application & Audit Readiness

SAT-004-R001 · Field Guidance

Business Examples

    Common Audit Findings

      Common Mistakes

        Best Practices & Ownership

        SAT-004 · Recommended Approach

        Recommended Practices

          Typical Owner

          Cross-Mapped Regulatory Frameworks

          Harmonized Control Mappings
          FRAMEWORK CODE FRAMEWORK NAME & DETAILS FAMILY / CATEGORY VERSION ACTION
          DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act establis... Clause: Article 13(6) – ICT security awareness and digital operational resilience training Article 13(7) – Continuous monitoring of technological developments
          EU
          Regulation
          		 vCurrent View →
          IRDAI IRDAI Information & Cyber Security Guidelines IRDAI information and cyber-security requirements... Clause: §2.4-3.2 – On-Boarding and During Employment
          India
          Guideline
          		 vLatest View →
          ISO22301 ISO/IEC 22301 ISO 22301 specifies requirements for a Business Co... Clause: 8.5 – Exercise programme; 7.3 – Awareness
          ISO
          Standard
          		 v2019 View →
          ISO27001 ISO/IEC 27001 ISO/IEC 27001 specifies auditable requirements for... Clause: 7.3 – Awareness
          ISO
          Standard
          		 v2022 View →
          ISO27002 ISO/IEC 27002 ISO/IEC 27002 is a guidance standard containing a... Clause: 6.3 – Information security awareness, education and training
          ISO
          Standard
          		 v2022 View →
          NIS2 NIS2 Directive The NIS2 Directive establishes EU-wide cybersecuri... Clause: Article 21(2)(c) – Business continuity, including backup management, disaster recovery and crisis management Article 21(2)(g) – Basic cyber hygiene practices and cybersecurity training
          EU
          Directive
          		 vCurrent View →
          NIST-CSF NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides high-lev... Clause: ID.IM – Improvement | ID.IM-02 – Improvements are identified from security tests and exercises, including those done in coordination with suppliers and relevant third parties
          NIST
          Framework
          		 v2 View →
          NIST80053 NIST SP 800-53 NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 presents control families, i... Clause: 3.2 – AWARENESS AND TRAINING; AT-2 – LITERACY TRAINING AND AWARENESS, AT-6 – TRAINING FEEDBACK
          NIST
          Control Catalog
          		 vRev. 5 View →
          NPCI-ISR NPCI Information Security Requirements NPCI information-security requirements define cont... Clause: Governance Controls; Policy, Roles and Risk Linkages – Trainings and awareness
          India
          Standard
          		 vLatest View →
          PCI-DSS PCI DSS PCI DSS is an industry security standard maintaine... Clause: 12.6.3 – Personnel receive security awareness
          PCI
          Standard
          		 v4 View →
          RBI-CSF RBI Cyber Security Framework / Master Directions RBI cyber-security requirements and directions set... Clause: 23) User / Employee/ Management Awareness – 23.4 Periodic evaluation of awareness level; 23) User / Employee/ Management Awareness – 23.5 Adaptive capacity building, mandatory new-recruit awareness and annual management training
          India
          Regulation
          		 vLatest View →
          SEBI-CSCRF SEBI Cyber Security & Cyber Resilience Framework SEBI’s Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framewor... Clause: 3.2 PR.AT: Awareness and Training
          India
          Regulation
          		 vLatest View →
          SOC2 SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria SOC 2 is an independent examination and reporting... Clause: CC2.2 – Information and Communication – COSO Principle 14: The entity internally communicates information, including objectives and responsibilities for internal control, necessary to support the functioning of internal control. CC7.4 – System Operations – The entity responds to identified security incidents by executing a defined incident-response program to understand, contain, remediate, and communicate security incidents, as appropriate.
          AICPA
          Audit Framework
          		 vLatest View →

          Parent Domain Context

          Governance Domain Baseline
          Domain Name:
          Security Awareness & Training (SAT)
          Purpose:
          To build a security-conscious culture by educating employees.
          Scope:
          Enterprise
          View

          Parent Control Context

          Control Baseline
          Control Name:
          Security Awareness Exercises & Simulations (SAT-004)
          Summary:
          Establishes security awareness exercises including phishing simulations, social engineering exercises, security awareness drills, exercise performance measurement, corrective actions, reporting, lessons learned, review, and continuous improvement.
          Business Description:
          Establish and maintain practical awareness exercises including phishing simulations, social engineering exercises, incident reporting drills, and other security awareness validation activities.
          View