ISO 27001 A.5.2: security roles, explained for startups

A.5.2 Information security roles and responsibilities

Everyone knows who is responsible for each part of security. What proves it: a list of the security roles, the person in each, and what each is responsible for.

A certification auditor samples a roles chart or matrix with named people and their appointments. A file that usually does the job: a one-page roles and responsibilities chart naming the security lead, the executive sponsor and each control owner.

How to put it in place

Each step leaves a record, and the record is what the auditor samples rather than the step itself. Inside Polara, the control card for A.5.2 walks you through it in this order.

1. List the security roles: executive sponsor, security lead, control owners and incident lead.
2. Name one person for each and write down what they are responsible for.
3. Share the chart with the people named and update it when people change roles.

No question in the readiness assessment covers A.5.2 directly, so the control card is its whole evidence path.

Policies, connectors and the SOC 2 overlap

In the ISO 27001 policy pack, the Information Security Policy covers A.5.2. An auditor reads the policy for the rule, then samples the records to see the rule was followed.

The same evidence counts toward SOC 2. The Trust Services criterion that cover this ground: CC1.3, structure and reporting.

Organizational controls

A.5.2 is one of the 37 organizational controls in Annex A. How the company runs security: policies, roles, suppliers, incidents, continuity and legal duties. Most of these are written decisions and the records that show you follow them.

Nearby controls in the same theme:

• A.5.1, security policies
• A.5.3, segregation of duties
• A.5.4, what managers must enforce
• A.5.5, contact with authorities

Before it: A.5.1, security policies. After it: A.5.3, segregation of duties. Every control, by theme, is on the Annex A controls page.