In this article we lay bare ISO27001 Clause 5.3 Organisational roles, responsibilities and authorities. Exposing the insider trade secrets, giving you the templates that will save you hours of your life and showing you exactly what you need to do to satisfy it for ISO27001 certification. We show you exactly what changed in the ISO27001:2022 update. I am Stuart Barker the ISO27001 Ninja and this is ISO27001 Clause 5.3
Table of contents
What is ISO27001 Clause 5.3 Organisational roles, responsibilities and authorities?
Actually having roles and responsibilities defined and allocated is the purpose of this clause. In essence. There are many aspects of ISO27001 that ISO templates can help with and indeed there are many IS 27001 mandatory documents. We use the ISO27001 templates to record and evidence this ISO27001 clause.
What is the requirement of ISO27001 Clause 5.3?
The actual requirement is to make sure that roles, responsibilities and appropriate authority is assigned to people and that this is communicated. We document this as part of the communication plan and the requirement of the clause.
We need to make sure that responsibility is assigned to someone for ensuring the standard is met and for reporting on the effectiveness and performance of the information security management system to the business leaders, which they refer to as ‘top management’.
What are the ISO27001:2022 Changes to Clause 5.3?
The changes to ISO27001 clause 5.3 for the 2022 update are minor at best. Changing the word ‘International Standard’ to the word ‘document’ and adding clarification that communication is within the organisation as was always implied but never said out right. Nothing material.
ISO27001 Clause 5.3 Definition
The ISO27001 standard defines clause 5.3 as:
Top management shall ensure that the responsibilities and authorities for roles relevant to information security are assigned and communicated within the organisation.
Top management shall assign the responsibility and authority for:
a) ensuring that the information security management system conforms to the requirements of this document
ISO27001 Clause 5.3
b) reporting on the performance of the information security management system to top management.
ISO27001 Clause 5.3 Implementation Guide
Document the Information Security Roles Assigned and Responsibilities and set out the roles and responsibilities with allocated resource.
Implement a Management Review Team with representatives from across the business and ensure meetings follow the structured Management Review Team Agenda.
Document a Competency Matrix to capture the core competencies and training requirements of staff in relation to information security
Document the Management Review Team in the Information Security Roles Assigned and Responsibilities and document that it has responsibility for overseeing the Information Security Management System. This group reports to the board and has board representation and certain board designated authority for decision making. The Management Review Team meeting should meet at least quarterly and follow the agenda as defined in the standard.
ISO27001 Certification Requirements
ISO27001 Certification Requirements set out clause by clause with these complete certification guides that include everything you need to know, what you need to do and ISO 27001 templates.
- ISO27001 Clause 4.1 Understanding The Organisation And Its Context
- ISO27001 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations Of Interested Parties
- ISO27001 Clause 4.3 Determining The Scope Of The Information Security Management System
- ISO27001 Clause 4.4 Information Security Management System (ISMS)
- ISO27001 Clause 5.1 Leadership And Commitment
- ISO27001 Clause 5.2 Information Security Policy
- ISO27001 Clause 5.3 Organisational Roles, Responsibilities And Authorities
- ISO27001 Clause 6 Planning
- ISO27001 Clause 6.1.1 Planning General
- ISO27001 Clause 6.1.2 Information Security Risk Assessment
- ISO27001 Clause 6.1.3 Information Security Risk Treatment
- ISO27001 Clause 6.2 Information Security Objectives And Planning To Achieve Them
- ISO27001 Clause 7.1 Resources
- ISO27001 Clause 7.2 Competence
- ISO27001 Clause 7.3 Awareness
- ISO27001 Clause 7.4 Communication
- ISO27001 Clause 7.5.1 Documented Information
- ISO27001 Clause 7.5.2 Creating And Updating Documented Information
- ISO27001 Clause 7.5.3 Control Of Documented Information
- ISO27001 Clause 8.1 Operational Planning And Control
- ISO27001 Clause 8.2 Information Security Risk Assessment
- ISO27001 Clause 8.3 Information Security Risk Treatment
- ISO27001 Clause 9.1 Monitoring, Measurement, Analysis, Evaluation
- ISO27001 Clause 9.2 Internal Audit
- ISO27001 Clause 9.3 Management Reviews
- ISO27001 Clause 10.1 Continual Improvement
- ISO27001 Clause 10.2 Non Conformity and Corrective Action
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- ISO27001 Reference Guide: Clause by Clause