Implementing ISO 27001 

Before you can reap the many benefits of ISO 27001, you first need to familiarize yourself with the Standard and its core requirements. The ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO/IEC 27002:2013 and ISO 27000:2018 standards will serve as your principal points of reference. 

You will first need to appoint a project leader to manage the project (if it will be someone other than yourself). Second, you will need to embark on an information-gathering exercise to review senior-level objectives and set information security goals. Third, you should develop a project plan and project risk register.

A gap analysis helps you determine which areas of the organization aren’t compliant with ISO 27001, and what you need to do to become compliant.

Scoping requires you to decide which information assets to ring-fence and protect. Doing this correctly is essential, because a scope that’s too big will escalate the time and cost of the project, and a scope that’s too small will leave your organization vulnerable to risks that weren’t considered.

You should set out high-level policies for the ISMS that establish roles and responsibilities, and set up a continual improvement process. Additionally, you need to consider how to raise ISMS project awareness through both internal and external communication.

Risk management is the core of any ISMS and involves five important aspects: establishing a risk management framework; identifying, analyzing, and evaluating risks; and selecting risk treatment options.

Effective risk management also helps identify whether your organization’s controls are necessary and cost-effective.

Controls should be applied to manage or reduce risks identified in the risk assessment. ISO 27001 requires organizations to compare any controls against its Annex A reference controls – the idea is that you implement all controls deemed necessary, and justify any exclusions. This entire process should be documented – one of the most time-consuming parts of implementing an ISO 27001-conformant ISMS.

The RTP (risk treatment plan) and SoA (Statement of Applicability) are key documents required for an ISO 27001 compliance project.

The SoA lists all the controls identified in ISO 27001, details whether each control has been applied, and explains why it was included or excluded. The RTP describes the steps to be taken to deal with each risk identified in the risk assessment.

Human error has been widely demonstrated as the weakest link in cybersecurity. Therefore, all employees should receive regular training to increase their awareness of information security issues and the purpose of the ISMS.

ISO 27001 requires regular audits and testing to be carried out. This is to ensure that the controls are working as they should be and that the incident response plans are functioning effectively. Additionally, top management should review the performance of the ISMS at least annually.

If you opt for certification, the certification body you use should be properly accredited by a recognized national accreditation body and a member of the International Accreditation Forum.

Your chosen certification body will review your management system documentation, check that you have implemented appropriate controls, and conduct a site audit to test the procedures in practice.