Info Security ISO/IEC 27001
One of the most important aspects to deal with within your company? Security 100%. Safeguarding your information, data, assets, and making sure that no one—unless you allow and want them to do so—can access what you have in your business. It has always been a crucial task for companies from all industries to invest in security and make sure their data isn’t available and accessible for every random person that takes a step inside the system.
However, how easy is it to make this happen? Not quite. The security management system of a company is hard to set with requirements, elements, and make some changes in order to guarantee a safe one. After all, you can’t expect it to work as you want or meet the specific function to a certain degree without the proper settings.
Now, you need to determine which type of security you are looking for and need to handle before it is too late and you start having issues after a long time being operating or right after starting your company. If you are interested in safeguard your information and data, the ISO/IEC 27001 is the perfect standard to follow and manage the security assets of the company—and this includes any information.
ISO standards are a bit difficult to handle due to their nature and the dozens of ISOs you can find in the organization. To begin with, ISO/IEC 27001 comes from the ISO 27000 family from where you can access over 30 different standards or normative.
In this case, we and you are interested in the 27001 one to deal with the information security management system of your business.
How can you make this happen?
Just like any other standard, it needs to be implemented and the company must meet every requirement in the document. We consider it quite an easy normative since most of the processes and steps of the implementation take place cybernetically nowadays.
However, there are indeed many elements and sections involved in its implementation, and making it possible will take more than one or two people, and of course, more than a couple of days. But it is possible, and we are sure you will find this standard more than useful once you start meeting every requirement.
Why do people choose ISO/IEC 27001?
Because it is necessary to manage security controls. Before going deeper into this topic, we recommend you to inform and educate yourself in the security area of your company. Studying and implementing an ISO takes more than just reading the document that belongs or corresponds to it.
After all, there are many details and elements involved in their implementation, starting with the system or area of the company you are aiming for through it. Therefore, when you are not familiar with the entire picture, you won’t be able to understand the first question that comes to your mind: why would you implement it?
We encourage you to read about security controls and everything related to this area of your company before jumping into the standards you will implement to do something about your information security management system. Otherwise, you will relay on a company or person that deals with the task perfectly, but in the end, the company is yours and you must be aware of everything related to it.
Going back to the main question and topic, companies choose ISO 27001 due to how effective and basic it is compared to the other standards in the same family. Besides, all companies—or most of them—have information security controls that make the task of protecting data easier. However, there is no point in having them when you don’t have the right ISMS for them.
The ISO/IEC 27001 helps them to organize and join the controls for them to start making sense—this is the basic and most understandable explanation we can give you for this. Following the previous concept and fact we gave you about standards being created and implemented for specific areas or elements in the company, this also applies in this case.
This ISO standard is only for security controls—from information—, but it still covers more than IT (Information Technology). For example, data security is also involved in its use and goal.
So, to make it simple and direct, we can say that companies choose this standard in order to deal with the direct problem they have with their information technology, data, and information security. As well as organizing and joining the security controls that will be able to be handled and dealt with properly with the perfect ISMS.
What happens when you have met all the requirements in the standard?
You get certified.
Companies that implement this—and any—ISO will always get certified in order for their clients and partners to show how capable they are to safeguard their own information. The data and information in your company also include elements and details about your clients and other businesses that decide to collaborate with you. Therefore, you can look at it in this way: it isn’t only your data the one you are protecting and securing.
This only makes the need of having a reliable and perfect ISMS more crucial and a priority for your business. Keep in mind that implementing ISO/IEC 27001 not only involves the creation and establishment of an information security management system. If your company is new or you are in the process of creating it, you can use this ISO and the parameters established to build a reliable system for your information.
However, after you are done with this task or part of the implementation you will still find the standard quite useful. After all, companies that decide to implement it are trying to maintain and improve an ISMS and to continuously review the safety of their information. Every management system—and the system in general—in a company needs to constantly improve in order to guarantee the desired results and characteristics from it.
Your information security system won’t be always perfect unless you maintain it and improve every element and aspect in it. This is the main reason why this specific standard is so important and relevant for companies from all industries: because the future and growth of a business lie in improving. Also, ISO/IEC 27001 isn’t obligatory or mandatory, but companies decide to implement it due to how functional, effective, and efficient it is in improving their ISMS.
Therefore, we should ask you—and you need to ask yourself—what are you waiting to start following it and meeting every requirement and parameter. The risks, issues, and every aspect of your security system will be managed properly and safeguarded thanks to a proper standard for them.
What you need to know about ISO/IEC 27001
Unlike other ISO standards, we personally enjoy ten times more implementing this one. The reason behind this is because the processes and methods to meet every requirement and have a safe and perfect ISMS are even fun for the company.
And thanks to the methods it is easy to achieve the final goal with it. However, just like any other ISO standard—except most recent ones—, it has gone through several changes.
In 2005, the organization added the PDCA cycle, which is also known as the Plan-Do-Check-Act process. This allows the main standard we are discussing to align with a quality one.
In simpler words, thanks to this cycle in ISO 27001, you are able to obtain a better ISMS due to the processes added to guarantee high-quality systems and information security.
The cycle consists of 4 steps or stages that go for the name we mentioned before.
Plan: it is about establishing and determining the ISMS objectives and policy, as well as the processes and procedures when it comes to risk management.
Do: focuses on exploiting every policy, control, and process that has been established in the previous step—basically, every element and aspect.
Check: assess the work and processes that have taken place so far and measure the current performance after their implementation.
Act: if you find issues and non-conformities in the previous step, you need to take corrective actions in order to solve every problem that goes against the policy and standards you have set.
After this plan or cycle, ISO 27001 has also experienced other changes and the last one was in 2013. Now, we are also mentioning this since it is important to maintain yourself updated with every aspect of the standard you are following. Otherwise, you will be implementing it without having a good idea of how you are getting the desired results and how to maintain your company in that way.
All this is a lot of work and time will be what you will spend the most. However, it will be worth it and you won’t regret implementing this ISO. However, make sure to get certified once you are done or get support and assistance to guarantee a successful implementation.
At ISO Pros, we are here to assist you in everything you need and to also get you certified once you have met all the requirements. If you came this far and have read till this point, we know you are already interested in implementing this ISO. And for this, we just expect you to save enough time and resources, although money won’t be a huge problem since expenses when going for this standard aren’t high.
That being said, the sooner you start to implement an ISO, the sooner you will enjoy all the benefits and start protecting your information in this case. Therefore, don’t think too much about it when you also have a reliable company—which is also validated—right in front of you. You can contact us anytime and we will answer your questions before starting to help you.
Or you can apply for a certification for our experts to assess and evaluate your company and determine if you meet all the requirements. If you do, we will provide you with your certification without problems. For more information, visit the rest of our website or feel free to contact us and inquiry about all your worries and doubts. We won’t get mad nor have problems answering every single question.