ISO 27002:2022, Control 5.11 – Return of Assets

ISO 27002:2022 Revised Controls

Book a demo

businessman,working,on,laptop,computer,with,digital,tablet,and,mobile

Control 5.11 states that personnel and other interested parties as appropriate should return all the organisation’s assets in their possession upon change or termination of their employment, contract or agreement.

This means that the organisation must have a written policy that defines clear rules for returning assets upon termination. Organisations must also have personnel that will confirm receipt of returned assets, and ensure that assets are properly inventoried and accounted for.

What is Control 5.11, Return of Assets?

An information asset is any kind of data or information that has value to an organisation. Information assets can include physical documents, digital files and databases, software programs, and even intangible items like trade secrets and intellectual property.

Information assets can have value in a variety of ways. They may contain personally identifying information (PII) about customers, employees or other stakeholders that could be used by bad actors for financial gain or identity theft. They could contain sensitive information about your organisation’s finances, research or operations that would provide a competitive advantage to your competitors if they were able to get their hands on it.

This is why it is important that staff and contractors whose business are terminated with an organisation are compelled to return all such assets in their possession.

Attributes Table

The new ISO 27002:2022 standard includes attribute tables that were not included in the previous 2013 standard. Controls are classified based on their attributes. You can also use these attributes to match your control selection with commonly used industry terms and specifications.

Attributes for control 5.11 are:

Control TypeInformation Security PropertiesCybersecurity ConceptsOperational CapabilitiesSecurity Domains
#Preventive#Confidentiality #Integrity #Availability#Protect#Asset management#Protection

We’re cost-effective and quick

Discover how that will boost your ROI
Get your quote

What Is The Purpose of Control 5.11?

Control 5.11 is designed to protect the organisation’s assets as part of the process of changing or terminating employment, contract or agreement. The intent of this control is to prevent unauthorised individuals from retaining assets (e.g., equipment, information, software, etc.) that belong to the organisation.

When employees and contractors leave your organisation, you have to make sure that they don’t take any sensitive data with them. You do that by identifying any potential threats and monitoring the user’s activities before their departure.

This control is to ensure that the individual does not have access to the IT systems and networks when they are terminated. Organisations should establish a formal termination process which ensures that individuals are not able to gain access to any IT systems after their departure from the organisation. This can be done by revoking all permissions, disabling accounts and removing access from building premises.

Procedures should be in place to ensure that employees, contractors, and other relevant parties return all organisational assets that are no longer required for business purposes or are due for replacement. Organisations may also want to perform a final check of the individual’s work area to ensure that all sensitive information has been returned.

For example:

  • Upon separation, organisation-owned equipment is collected (e.g., removable media, laptops).
  • Contractors return equipment and information at the end of their contract.

What Is Involved and How to Meet the Requirements

In order to meet the requirements for control 5.11, the change or termination process should be formalised to include the return of all previously issued physical and electronic assets owned by or entrusted to the organisation.

The process should also ensure that any and all access rights, accounts, digital certificates and passwords are removed. This formalisation is especially important in cases where a change or termination occurs unexpectedly, such as death or resignation, in order to prevent unauthorised access to organisation assets which could lead to a data breach.

The process should ensure that all assets are accounted for, and that they have all been returned/disposed of in a secure manner.

According to control 5.11 of ISO 27002:2022, the organisation should clearly identify and document all information and other associated assets to be returned which can include:

a) user endpoint devices;

b) portable storage devices;

c) specialist equipment;

d) authentication hardware (e.g. mechanical keys, physical tokens and smartcards) for information systems, sites and physical archives;

e) physical copies of information.

This can be achieved through a formal checklist containing all necessary items to be returned/disposed of and completed by the user upon termination, along with any necessary signatures confirming that the assets have been returned/disposed of successfully.

Are you ready for
the new ISO 27002

We’ll give you an 81% headstart
from the moment you log in
Book your demo

Get a Headstart on ISO 27001
  • All updated with the 2022 control set
  • Make 81% progress from the minute you log in
  • Simple and easy to use
Book your demo
img

Differences Between ISO 27002:2013 and ISO 27002:2022

The new 2022 revision of ISO 27002 was published on February 15, 2022, and is an upgrade of ISO 27002:2013.

The control 5.11 in ISO 27002: 2022 is not a new control, rather, it is a modification of control 8.1.4 – return of assets in ISO 27002:2013.

Both controls are essentially the same with near similar language and phraseology contained in the implementation guidelines. However, control 5.11 in ISO 27002:2022 comes with an attributes table that allows users to match the control with what they are implementing. Also, control 5.11 in ISO 27002:2022 listed assets that can fall under what should be returned at the end of employment or termination of contract.

These include:

a) user endpoint devices;

b) portable storage devices;

c) specialist equipment;

d) authentication hardware (e.g. mechanical keys, physical tokens and smartcards) for information systems, sites and physical archives;

e) physical copies of information.

This list is not available in the 2013 version.

What Do These Changes Mean for You?

The updated ISO 27002:2022 standard is based on the 2013 version. The committee that oversees the standard did not make any significant updates or modifications to the previous versions. As a result, any organisation currently compliant with ISO 27002:2013 is already compliant with the new standard. If your company plans to maintain compliance with ISO 27002, you will not need to make many significant changes to your systems and processes.

However, you can learn more about how these modifications to control 5.11 will impact your organisation in our guide to ISO 27002:2022.

How ISMS.online Helps

The ISMS.online platform is a great tool to help you implement and manage an ISO 27001/ 27002 Information Security Management System, regardless of your experience with the Standard.

Our system will guide you through the steps to successfully set up your ISMS and manage it going forward. You will have access to a wide range of resources, including:

  • An interactive ISMS.online manual that provides a step-by-step guide to implementing ISO 27001/ 27002 in any organisation.
  • A risk assessment tool that guides you through the process of identifying and assessing your risks.
  • An online policy pack that is easy to customise based on your needs.
  • A document control system that helps you manage every single document and record created as part of your ISMS.
  • Automatic reporting for better decision making.
  • A checklist that you can use to verify that your processes are in line with the ISO 27002 framework. At the end, our cloud-based platform has all you need to document proof of compliance with the ISO framework.

Get in touch today to book a demo.

Get a Headstart
on ISO 27002

The only compliance
solution you need
Book your demo

New Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
5.7NewThreat intelligence
5.23NewInformation security for use of cloud services
5.30NewICT readiness for business continuity
7.4NewPhysical security monitoring
8.9NewConfiguration management
8.10NewInformation deletion
8.11NewData masking
8.12NewData leakage prevention
8.16NewMonitoring activities
8.23NewWeb filtering
8.28NewSecure coding

Organisational Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
5.105.1.1, 05.1.2Policies for information security
5.206.1.1Information security roles and responsibilities
5.306.1.2Segregation of duties
5.407.2.1Management responsibilities
5.506.1.3Contact with authorities
5.606.1.4Contact with special interest groups
5.7NewThreat intelligence
5.806.1.5, 14.1.1Information security in project management
5.908.1.1, 08.1.2Inventory of information and other associated assets
5.1008.1.3, 08.2.3Acceptable use of information and other associated assets
5.1108.1.4Return of assets
5.12 08.2.1Classification of information
5.1308.2.2Labelling of information
5.1413.2.1, 13.2.2, 13.2.3Information transfer
5.1509.1.1, 09.1.2Access control
5.1609.2.1Identity management
5.17 09.2.4, 09.3.1, 09.4.3Authentication information
5.1809.2.2, 09.2.5, 09.2.6Access rights
5.1915.1.1Information security in supplier relationships
5.2015.1.2Addressing information security within supplier agreements
5.2115.1.3Managing information security in the ICT supply chain
5.2215.2.1, 15.2.2Monitoring, review and change management of supplier services
5.23NewInformation security for use of cloud services
5.2416.1.1Information security incident management planning and preparation
5.2516.1.4Assessment and decision on information security events
5.2616.1.5Response to information security incidents
5.2716.1.6Learning from information security incidents
5.2816.1.7Collection of evidence
5.2917.1.1, 17.1.2, 17.1.3Information security during disruption
5.30NewICT readiness for business continuity
5.3118.1.1, 18.1.5Legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements
5.3218.1.2Intellectual property rights
5.3318.1.3Protection of records
5.3418.1.4Privacy and protection of PII
5.3518.2.1Independent review of information security
5.3618.2.2, 18.2.3Compliance with policies, rules and standards for information security
5.3712.1.1Documented operating procedures

People Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
6.107.1.1Screening
6.207.1.2Terms and conditions of employment
6.307.2.2Information security awareness, education and training
6.407.2.3Disciplinary process
6.507.3.1Responsibilities after termination or change of employment
6.613.2.4Confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements
6.706.2.2Remote working
6.816.1.2, 16.1.3Information security event reporting

Physical Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
7.111.1.1Physical security perimeters
7.211.1.2, 11.1.6Physical entry
7.311.1.3Securing offices, rooms and facilities
7.4NewPhysical security monitoring
7.511.1.4Protecting against physical and environmental threats
7.611.1.5Working in secure areas
7.711.2.9Clear desk and clear screen
7.811.2.1Equipment siting and protection
7.911.2.6Security of assets off-premises
7.1008.3.1, 08.3.2, 08.3.3, 11.2.5Storage media
7.1111.2.2Supporting utilities
7.1211.2.3Cabling security
7.1311.2.4Equipment maintenance
7.1411.2.7Secure disposal or re-use of equipment

Technological Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
8.106.2.1, 11.2.8User endpoint devices
8.209.2.3Privileged access rights
8.309.4.1Information access restriction
8.409.4.5Access to source code
8.509.4.2Secure authentication
8.612.1.3Capacity management
8.712.2.1Protection against malware
8.812.6.1, 18.2.3Management of technical vulnerabilities
8.9NewConfiguration management
8.10NewInformation deletion
8.11NewData masking
8.12NewData leakage prevention
8.1312.3.1Information backup
8.1417.2.1Redundancy of information processing facilities
8.1512.4.1, 12.4.2, 12.4.3Logging
8.16NewMonitoring activities
8.1712.4.4Clock synchronization
8.1809.4.4Use of privileged utility programs
8.1912.5.1, 12.6.2Installation of software on operational systems
8.2013.1.1Networks security
8.2113.1.2Security of network services
8.2213.1.3Segregation of networks
8.23NewWeb filtering
8.2410.1.1, 10.1.2Use of cryptography
8.2514.2.1Secure development life cycle
8.2614.1.2, 14.1.3Application security requirements
8.2714.2.5Secure system architecture and engineering principles
8.28NewSecure coding
8.2914.2.8, 14.2.9Security testing in development and acceptance
8.3014.2.7Outsourced development
8.3112.1.4, 14.2.6Separation of development, test and production environments
8.3212.1.2, 14.2.2, 14.2.3, 14.2.4Change management
8.3314.3.1Test information
8.3412.7.1Protection of information systems during audit testing
Updated for ISO 27001 2022
  • 81% of the work done for you
  • Assured Results Method for certification success
  • Save time, money and hassle
Book your demo
img

Explore ISMS.online's platform with a self-guided tour - Start Now