During a quarterly review, the chief risk officer at a financial institution instructs each department to assign a dedicated risk owner for potential breaches of sensitive customer account data. Which role should assume accountability for identifying, assessing, and accepting risk associated with that financial data?
The data owner is typically a senior business stakeholder-such as a finance manager or line-of-business executive-who has statutory or operational authority over the information set. Because that person controls how the data are collected, processed, retained, and disclosed, they are best positioned to determine acceptable risk levels, approve mitigation controls, and formally accept or transfer residual risk. Technical staff such as security analysts or IT support can recommend safeguards, and the CIO provides enterprise-wide technology leadership, but none of them own the specific financial data set. Therefore, the data owner is the appropriate risk owner for breaches affecting that information.
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What is a Data Owner in information security?
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Why is the Data Owner the risk owner for financial data breaches?