ISO/IEC 27001:2022 · Organizational control
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.15: Access control
Quick answer
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.15 (Access control) is an organizational control. Set rules for physical and logical access based on business need and least privilege.
What auditors look for
Auditors check that 5.15 is either justified as not applicable in your Statement of Applicability or implemented and working. Typical evidence includes:
- Access control policy
- Role definitions or access matrix
- Approval records for access requests
How to implement 5.15 in practice
- Define access by role, not by person
- Require owner approval for sensitive systems
- Deny by default
- Name an owner for 5.15, decide how often it runs and file evidence each time, so the control is audit-ready all year.
Recording 5.15 in the Statement of Applicability
List 5.15 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.