ISO 27001 Annex A 5.11: Return of assets

What auditors look for

Auditors check that 5.11 is either justified as not applicable in your Statement of Applicability or implemented and working. Typical evidence includes:

• Leaver checklist
• Asset return records
• Remote wipe records for unreturned devices

How to implement 5.11 in practice

1. Trigger asset recovery from HR leaver events
2. Track devices by serial number
3. Include data held on personal devices
4. Name an owner for 5.11, decide how often it runs and file evidence each time, so the control is audit-ready all year.

Recording 5.11 in the Statement of Applicability

List 5.11 with whether it applies, the reason (usually the risks it treats or a legal or contractual requirement), its implementation status and where the evidence lives. If you exclude it, explain why none of your risks or obligations require it.

Free resources

• ISO 27001 and GDPR readiness assessment
• 10 steps to implement ISO 27001
• Remote ISO 27001 consultant

More organizational controls

• 5.7 Threat intelligence
• 5.8 Information security in project management
• 5.9 Inventory of information and other associated assets
• 5.10 Acceptable use of information and other associated assets
• 5.12 Classification of information
• 5.13 Labelling of information
• 5.14 Information transfer
• 5.15 Access control