Who should be the risk owner under ISO/IEC 27005?
ISO/IEC 27005:2022 defines a as a person or entity with accountability and authority to manage a risk. The owner should understand the issue and be able to make informed decisions about treatment. The person's position should allow that authority to be exercised in practice.
Possible owners include top management, a security committee, process owners, functional owners, department managers, and asset owners. These are examples, not automatic assignments. Choose the owner from the risk's business consequence, organizational location, and level, then define escalation where the exposure exceeds that owner's authority.
- Assign the risk, not merely the asset or control, and identify the affected business objective.
- Separate the from analysts and treatment owners unless one person genuinely has all of those roles and authorities.
- For a committee owner, name the body, chair or accountable role, quorum or decision rule, and escalation route.
- Example: an asset owner can own a risk when that role can understand the business exposure and authorize treatment. If the role can only maintain the asset, assign the risk to the process, function, department, committee, or management level that can make and fund the decision.
Who should be a under ISO/IEC 27005?
Assign each identified risk to a person or entity that is accountable for and has authority to manage that risk, understands the issue, and can make informed treatment decisions. Top management, a security committee, a process or functional owner, a department manager, or an asset owner can qualify, but no job title qualifies automatically.
Is the asset owner automatically the ?
No. An asset owner can be the only when the role has the required understanding, accountability, and authority for the specific risk. Ownership should follow the affected objective, business consequence, organizational location, and risk level, with escalation where the decision exceeds the role's authority.
Can a committee be the ?
Yes. ISO/IEC 27005 allows an entity such as a security committee to own risk. The record should identify the committee, its authority, how it reaches a decision, who communicates or records that decision, and where the risk goes when it exceeds the committee's mandate.
What decisions remain with the ?
The manages the assigned risk, approves the risk treatment plan, and decides whether is acceptable within delegated authority. Analysts can assess the risk and treatment or control owners can implement measures, but those tasks do not transfer the risk owner's accountability.
ISO/IEC 27005:2022 defines risk owner and Clause 7.2.2 gives assignment criteria and examples of people or bodies that can own risk.