ISO 27001

ISO 27001 is the internationally acknowledged standard, specifically developed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization), that assists organizations to implement a robust Information Security Management System (ISMS). When your organization achieves the certification, it certifies that the ISMS is competent at ensuring confidentiality and integrity of the data collected or used by your business. The most important aspect of the ISO 27001 standard is that it sets out practices and policies to protect information of all types, that are regularly stored or used by a business irrespective of whether they are digital, paper-based, or cloud-based.

Achieving this certification also exhibits that your organization adopts the best practices for assuring information security. It hence enhances your corporate image and credibility in the industry.

While determining the certification costs, it is important for you to consider the costs of implementing the ISMS as well as costs for completing the certification process. The total costs generally vary with organizations, depending on several factors. The size of the organization, number of people working, status of existing information security framework, complexity of the ISMS, diversity of the information assets, types of security threats, number of internal audits required, and minimal audit time are all factors that affect the costs.

The costs required for certification depend on the fees of the certification body which too can differ. The certification costs depend on the initial certification audit and corrective actions required at the stage 2 audit. To talk more about how much this would cost your company, feel free to contact us.

To maintain the ISO 27001 standard certification, you need to periodically review and audit your ISMS until the time for recertification arrives. Any ISO certification is valid for three years, after which it needs to be renewed. During those three years, you should frequently audit the ISMS (preferably at 6 months intervals) to ensure that it is persistently effective in preventing your information security risks, including the newly emerging risks. Surveillance audits also help to ensure that your ISMS meets all the latest ISO 27001 requirements and is consistently compliant. On performing the audits, you can identify any shortfalls, issues, and nonconformities in the ISMS against the ISO 27001 standard.

The ISO 27001 standard implementation is worthwhile for any business, of any size or type, because information is an indispensable asset for all. All businesses collect, store, use, exchange information, and even process new information on a day-to-day basis, the confidentiality of which needs to be safeguarded to maintain the integrity of the business.

Information used by an organization is either related to its stakeholders (clients, employees, suppliers, investors, and other trading partners) or their own operations (such as finance, sales, receipts, contracts, intellectual property, marketing data, etc).  A breach or loss of any type of information can cause havoc in the business resulting in operational disruption, loss of stakeholders’ trust, penalties/legal charges, and damage to corporate reputation. It is therefore clear that ISO 27001 is a worthwhile achievement for any business that would like to protect its information and maintain its corporate integrity.

ISO 27001 is important for your business if you want to reassure that the most valuable asset (i.e., information) of your business is safe from corruption, destruction, or probable misuse. If you are looking for a definite approach to protect your confidential information, comply with general and industry regulations, exchange information safely, minimize exposure to security threats, and maintain your reputation, this certification is important.

Just like any other ISO certifications, ISO 27001 lasts for three years. After which, the ISMS should be reviewed and improved to maintain its compliance level with the latest certification regulations. However, your organization needs to conduct effective surveillance audits every year (or every 6 months) with the help of an external agency while the certificate is valid.

To get certified with ISO 27001, your organization is required to implement four key things: management responsibility, resources support, ISMS development, and a proper reviewing method.

This implies that your organization’s management team should be responsible for planning the ISMS structure and its scope, and eventually involved in its implementation. The resources which include staff and information security infrastructure must be assigned properly to lead the implementation process. The ISMS should be developed with proper documentation of its policies, procedures, and work instructions. Lastly, your organization must have dedicated officials and tools to timely review the ISMS, measure its performance, and determine ways to further improve it.