Who is responsible for accrediting all components within the accreditation boundary?

• A. Authorizing official
• B. System Owner
• C. CIO
• D. Security Officer

Answer: (A)

In a risk-management framework, the formal accreditation decision rests with the Authorizing Official—the person who has the authority to accept risk and grant authorization to operate for every component within the system’s accreditation boundary. The boundary defines which parts and data are inside the scope of the security assessment, and all of those components must be covered by the authorization decision. The Authorizing Official may delegate day-to-day assessment tasks to a designated official, but the ultimate responsibility for accrediting all in-scope components stays with the Authorizing Official.

The System Owner is responsible for ensuring the system and its components are properly implemented, maintained, and operated to meet security requirements. The CIO provides high-level oversight and governance but is not the formal accreditation authority. The Security Officer (often the CSO/CISO role) focuses on implementing and monitoring security controls and reporting on risk, rather than issuing the accreditation itself.