When it comes to keeping information assets secure, ISO 27001 is an international standard, published by the International Standardization Organization [ISO], that many organizations look forward to. Initially, developed based on the British standard BS 7799-2, it describes how to manage Information Security in an organization. The first revision of the standard was published in 2005, the next revision was published in 2013 and the latest revision (which is specifically a European version) was done in 2017, making it ISO/IEC 27001:2017.
A common misconception is that ISO 27001 is only for “large” organizations is neither true nor good! This international standard can be implemented in any kind of organization, small or large, private or state-owned, profit or non-profit. World’s best experts in the field of information security have written this Standard. It provides a methodology for the implementation of an Information Security Management System [ISMS] in an organization and enables it to become certified. This means that an independent Certifying Body has validated & confirmed that the organization has implemented an ISMS that is compliant with ISO 27001. Today, ISO 27001 has become the most popular information security standard globally and many organizations are certified in it.
ISO 27001 aims at protecting the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability, commonly known as “CIA Triad”, of the information in a business. This is done by finding out what possible problems can impact the security of information, a process which is called “Risk Assessment”, and then describing what needs to be done to prevent it, which is called “Risk Treatment” or “Risk Mitigation”. This is why it is also commonly & rightly perceived that the main philosophy of ISO 27001 is based on the concept of “managing risks”. It facilitates to find out where the risks exist and how they should be treated systematically.
The controls that should be implemented are in the form of Policies, Procedures, Processes, Tracking, Monitoring and Technical Implementation such as modification to equipment and software. In many scenarios, organizations already have the ISMS software and hardware in place, but they use them in an insecure manner and hence, the majority of the ISO 27001 implementations are about setting the organizational rules that are necessary to prevent security breaches. Since such implementation needs multiple Policies, Procedures, Processes, People and Assets to be managed, ISO 27001 has defined how to fit all these elements together in the ISMS. So, managing information security is not only about Antivirus and Firewalls, but it is about managing processes, managing human resources, legal protection, physical protection and much more.
An organization can achieve the following four (4) essential business benefits with the implementation of ISO 27001 Standard:
Neumetric, a cybersecurity services, consulting & product company, recommends that information security should be a part of an organization’s overall risk management with an overlap with IT, ISMS security, operations and business continuity.
ISO 27001 contains 11 Clauses and an Annex A. Clauses 0 to 3 are not mandatory for implementation since they are introductory in nature. Clauses 4 to 10 are mandatory, which means all their requirements must be implemented in an organization if it wishes to be compliant with the Standard. Controls from Annex A should be implemented only if confirmed as applicable in the Statement of Applicability.
According to Annex SL of the International Organization for Standardization ISO/IEC Directives, Clause titles in ISO 27001 are the same as in ISO 22301:2012, in the new ISO 9001:2015, and other management standards. This will enable easier integration of these standards.
You need to follow these steps to implement the ISO 27001 standard in your organization
Organizations can obtain their ISMS certification by proving that they are compliant with all the mandatory Clauses of the ISO 27001 Standard.
Certification Audit is performed by an accredited “Certifying Body”. The certification audit, which is known as the “External Audit” is performed in three Stages.
Neumetric, a cyber security services, consulting & products organization, can help you reduce your security cost without compromising your security posture. Our years of in-depth experience in handling security for organizations of all sizes & in multiple industries make it easier for us to quickly execute cost-cutting activities that do not bring value to you, while you continue focusing on the business objectives of the Organization.