Asset Management Policy

The Asset Management Policy (P12) establishes the organizational requirements for identifying, classifying, managing, and securing all information assets throughout their lifecycle. The document aims to deliver enterprise-wide oversight and governance, supporting hardware, software, data, cloud, mobile, remote, and third-party-managed environments. Its core intention is to ensure the organization achieves full visibility across its asset portfolio, which in turn enables effective security controls, ownership assignment, regulatory compliance, and responsible decommissioning procedures. Assets governed under this policy include a wide array: laptops, desktops, mobile devices, removable storage, printers, network equipment, software, databases, backup data, encryption keys, structured and unstructured data, reports, email, intellectual property, cloud resources, virtual machines, user accounts, configuration baselines, licenses, and more. All employees, contractors, service providers, and vendors who use, manage, or access information assets owned or controlled by the organization are covered by the policy. This coverage extends even to assets in remote, hybrid, or outsourced environments, assuring asset security and traceability are not compromised by location. A fundamental objective is the maintenance of a centralized, accurate, and up-to-date Asset Inventory Register, managed by the IT Asset Manager and, where possible, integrated with other configuration management systems. Every asset entered into this inventory must include mandatory metadata such as its unique identifier, ownership, classification, location, and lifecycle status. Asset owners are designated for each asset, charged with ensuring its appropriate classification, protection, and periodic record validation. The classification process underpins the entire policy, ensuring that assets are labeled and managed according to sensitivity, criticality, and any relevant regulatory requirements. Labeling procedures are enforced for both digital and physical assets, and handling requirements, for example, encryption, locked storage, or restricted access, must correspond to classification levels. The policy details security controls at every stage of the asset lifecycle: onboarding, reallocation, handling, usage, secure return during offboarding, and secure disposal. It stipulates that asset usage must adhere to acceptable use standards, and it specifically prohibits repurposing assets for personal use, installing unauthorized software, or bypassing controls like antivirus and encryption. Rules for remote asset use require the employment of VPNs or secure tunnels and can entail mobile device and endpoint management solutions. Secure decommissioning and destruction practices are clearly addressed, requiring cryptographic wipes or physical destruction with confirmation and recordkeeping. To support ongoing compliance and risk management, the Asset Management Policy integrates with the organization’s risk register and supports risk assessment, exception management, and audit processes. Violations, such as unregistered or unauthorized assets, improper disposal, or disabling controls, are grounds for escalation and can result in disciplinary action, vendor penalties, or even legal proceedings. Periodic policy reviews involve multiple stakeholder groups and are triggered by regulatory changes, audit findings, security incidents, or substantial operational changes. The document concludes with reference to related policies, Access Control, Data Classification, Retention and Disposal, Logging and Monitoring, Incident Response, ensuring asset management forms a central pillar of the organization’s broader governance structure. This policy is not specifically labeled as an SME policy. It is designed for organizations with designated teams such as IT, CISO, Asset Manager, and various compliance and operational stakeholders, fulfilling the comprehensive requirements of ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and supporting frameworks.