Gaining ISO 27001 compliance, and even certification can be a long and potentially arduous process. Once done, however, it's proof that all your main cyber-security bases are covered, which will help both protect your company and give you added legitimacy over the competition. Is the journey for ISO 20071 certification right for you?
ISO 27001 was implemented by the ISO/IEC organisations, and most recently updated in 2013. ISO 27001 acts as an international standardised way of measuring the security protocol in a business. Most notably this is important for businesses in the following sectors; banking, financial, health, public and IT sectors. This is because these sectors general have the most data or information where protection is critical.
ISO 20071 compliance will help you make sure you have implemented all the correct security procedures in your business. Another benefit is that you can prove to customers their data is secure with you, as it is an international certification, this applies to all customers globally.
The ISO 27001 standard is designed to function as the framework to give you the foundations for building an information security management system – a "best-practice approach to managing information security that encompasses people, processes and technology".
ISO 27001 can serve as a guideline for any group or entity that is looking to improve their information security methods or policies. For those organisations who are looking to be best-in-class in this area, ISO 27001 certification is the ultimate goal.
Achieving ISO Certification isn't about a generic checklist to go through, it is suited to your organisation. Therefore, you'll have to first review your organisations security needs. That being said, there are some policies and processes that will need to be implemented and maintained.
ISO 27001 implementation will help you with your legal and customer requirements, as it acts as a cover-all certification for a range of different threats, such as: cyber crime, personal data breaches, vandalism / terrorism, fire / damage, misuse, theft and viral attacks.
Some in the organisation will have to learn the specifics of ISO including, but not limited to those who are implementing the security architecture of the organisation. The purpose of ISO 27001 is to protect "the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information in a company". This is done through risk assessment and risk mitigation, which we'll delve deeper into later.
Therefore, when you are building out your ISMS you can start to think about some of the benefits:
In simple terms, compliance might mean that the organisation is following the ISO 27001 standard (or parts of it). Certification is the proof that you are compliant, as measured by a third-party.
Receiving an ISO 27001 certification is typically a multi-year process that requires significant involvement from both internal and external stakeholders. It is not as simple as filling out a checklist and submitting it for approval
Accreditation is not necessary, but going along the cyber-security journey of implementing the correct guidelines and practices is the most simple way to recognise your business as cyber-secure. Whilst, implementing infrequently and without a goal may lead to gaps in your security.
ISO 20071 can be broadly broken down into two steps: risk assessment, and risk mitigation.
"The damage caused by cyber crime is expected to reach $6 trillion per year by 2021. Small businesses, huge corporations, non-profits all suffer cyber attacks. That’s why ISO 27001 is designed to be useful for organizations of all sizes and types."
Risk management is a key part of ISO 27001, ensuring that a company understands where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Passing iso certification standards is a sign of a mature, secure, and reliable organisation which can be trusted with data. However, it does not advocate specific training, but functions as a compliance checklist for the organisation. This may make certification seem overly-complex at first, but don't worry - it's just about having the right systems in place to assess and mitigate your company's IT risk.
Independently accredited certification to the Standard is recognised around the world as an indication that your ISMS is aligned with information security best practice. An ISMS is your information security management system. This is the set of rules, processes and policies your company uses to manage their information security.
Maintaining the high standards and best practices of an ISMS is often a challenge for organisations, as it requires constant review and updating. It is leadership and management's responsibility to make sure this does happen. In order to remain compliant, organisations must conduct their own ISO 27001 internal audits once every three years.
Although ISO 27001 does not directly cover the specific rules of GDPR, implementing both together will ensure you are compliant amongst all areas of your IT infrastructure, and complying with ISO 27001 helps you on your journey to full compliance.
Learning ISO 27001 certification will also help to prove compliance to SOX standards. Being SOX compliant is necessary for your business, and non-compliance can lead to big fines. Therefore, ensuring your keeping records will help you maintain both SOX and ISO compliance, "As a result of SOX, IT departments are responsible for creating and maintaining an archive of corporate records". ISO 20071 is a good way to keep on top of the variety of disparate security policies you may or may not be aware of.
If you’re looking to make your organisation ISO 27001 compliant, one of the first things you may have noticed is the importance that is placed on educating the ‘human element’, the end user.
User training is critical for ISO 27001 Compliance, by training your users with usecure, you are helping the entire company on its way to company-wide security awareness, one of the key features of ISO 20071 compliance. All security awareness training courses should provide metrics to show engagement or that allow for retraining/tailoring of modules. - Automatically keeping evidence to show an audit trail for review.
Even further, if you are going for certification, you will need to be regularly training your employees, that’s where usecure’s regularly updated, monthly courses will help you maintain training at an automated and easy to keep up with pace. Meaning all employee’s will receive their training, even when there are updates.
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