Clause 8 of the ISO 27001 standard deals with the operation of the information security management system as needed to meet information security requirements to achieve the information security objectives determined in 6.2.
Under clause 8.3, the requirement is for the organisation to implement the information security risk treatment plan and retain documented information on the results of that risk treatment. This requirement is therefore concerned with ensuring that the risk treatment processes described in clause 6.1, Actions to address risks and opportunities, are actually taking place. This should include evidence and clear audit trails of reviews and actions, showing the movements of the risk over time as results of investments emerge (not least also giving the organisation as well as the auditor confidence that the risk treatments are achieving their goals). Like other parts of clause 8 this is already achieved if the organisation has addressed the overall ISMS with the approach outlined in clause 7.5.
Meeting the requirement to implement information security risk treatment
To meet the requirements for 8.3 you must be able to evidence that the risk treatment plan described in clause 6.1 is being implemented.
As described in 6.1 more fully this must include the evidence behind the treatment. In simple terms 'treatment' can be work you are doing internally to control and tolerate the risk, or it could mean steps you are taking to transfer the risk (e.g. to a supplier), or it could be to terminate a risk entirely. The controls selected to manage the risks must consider, but are not limited to, those described in Annex A of the standard. These Annex A controls form the statement of applicability (SoA) which describes all the controls and why they have, or haven't, been implemented by the organisation.
How to create a risk treatment and manage your risk treatment process
Risk treatment should be considered alongside risk assessment and ultimately feed into the SoA too.
Typically, organisations find that managing and evidencing risk is the most complex part of ISO 27001. Read our recent article Information Security Risk Management Explained to explore risk management more fully. It can take days, weeks, or months of work to establish a fully operational risk solution.
That effort means establishing the conformant risk assessment methodology, a way of documenting and capturing the evidence of the whole security risk management process, as well as going through it for the first full set of risks and treatments.
