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ISO 27017 Shared Responsibility Model

Turn provider-versus-customer ambiguity into a responsibility matrix your engineers and auditors can use.

Aligned to ISO/IEC 27017 guidance for cloud service customers and cloud service providers.

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Sorena AI
Published
Mar 4, 2026
Updated
Mar 4, 2026
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3

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Publication metadata
Sorena AI
Published Mar 4, 2026
Updated Mar 4, 2026
Overview

ISO/IEC 27017 emphasizes that cloud security is a shared responsibility: cloud service customers and cloud service providers must agree, document, and operate an allocation of information security roles and responsibilities. The standard goes further than a generic matrix by grounding responsibility in the agreement, clarifying that the customer remains accountable for the decision to use the service while the provider is accountable for the security stated in the cloud service agreement, and tying that split to concrete areas such as incident handling, data location, backups, and termination.

Section 1

What ISO 27017 means by shared responsibility

ISO/IEC 27017 provides cloud-specific implementation guidance for information security controls based on ISO/IEC 27002. A central theme is avoiding responsibility gaps between cloud service customers and cloud service providers.

The standard's guidance expects both parties to agree on and document a clear allocation of roles and responsibilities (typically in the cloud service agreement), and to operate the service according to that allocation.

  • Write it down: responsibility allocation belongs in the agreement and supporting procedures
  • Be explicit about operational tasks (e.g., backups, recovery, logging, change management) so nothing falls between the cracks
  • Customer accountability still exists: the customer remains accountable for the decision to use the service; the provider is accountable for the security promised in the service agreement
Section 2

Responsibility matrix by service model (IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS)

A useful responsibility matrix is service-model specific. It should answer: who configures, who operates, who monitors, who approves changes, and who provides evidence.

Start with a few control themes that frequently fail in cloud audits, then expand to the full control inventory.

  • Identity and access: provider identity plane vs customer tenant IAM, privileged roles, and admin tooling
  • Virtualization and tenant isolation: hypervisor/platform controls (provider) vs tenant configuration hardening (customer)
  • Logging and monitoring: provider platform telemetry vs customer security monitoring and incident handling in the tenant
  • Data lifecycle: classification and labelling, access controls, backups, retention, secure deletion, and return of assets
  • Geography and jurisdiction: provider disclosure of storage and processing locations and customer assessment of authorities and legal constraints
Section 3

Evidence artifacts that make shared responsibility auditable

Auditors and customers don't only want a diagram. They want to see that responsibilities are understood, assigned, and operating (with measurable checks).

Collect evidence that is attributable, current, and traceable to the responsibility matrix rows.

  • Responsibility matrix + RACI with owners, escalation paths, and review cadence
  • Cloud service agreement clauses (responsibilities, disclosure obligations, support model, change/incident notification)
  • Operating procedures: access admin, change management, backup/restore, logging/monitoring, secure deletion and asset return
  • Evidence samples: logs and alerts, access reviews, restore test results, incident postmortems, periodic control effectiveness checks
Section 4

Common failure modes (and how to prevent them)

Most cloud security failures are not missing controls - they're missing boundaries. ISO 27017 is valuable because it forces you to define and document where the boundary is.

Use these checks to prevent everyone-assumed-someone-else-did-it outcomes.

  • Backups and recovery: ownership and test cadence explicitly assigned; restore tests documented
  • Logging: define which logs the provider retains vs what the customer must collect and alert on
  • Secure deletion and termination: define deletion triggers, return or removal of customer assets, verification method, and customer-facing attestations
  • Geographic constraints: provider disclosures reviewed and recorded; exceptions approved
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Primary sources

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Related guides

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ISO 27017 Cloud Provider Checklist (Due Diligence + Evidence)
ISO/IEC 27017 cloud provider checklist for due diligence: what to ask, what evidence to request.
ISO 27017 Compliance (Cloud Controls Implementation Playbook)
A practical ISO/IEC 27017 compliance playbook for cloud security controls: scope, shared responsibility, cloud-specific control implementation.
ISO 27017 Control Mapping to ISO 27001 (SoA + Evidence)
How to map ISO/IEC 27017 cloud security guidance to an ISO/IEC 27001 ISMS: Statement of Applicability, control owners, shared responsibility.
ISO 27017 FAQ (Cloud Security Controls, Audit, and Evidence)
Frequently asked questions about ISO/IEC 27017: what it is, how it relates to ISO 27001 and ISO 27002, shared responsibility in cloud security.