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Clause 6.1.1 is often misunderstood and frequently overlooked. It requires organizations to assess risks and opportunities specifically related to the Information Security Management System (ISMS)—focusing not on information security itself, but on the ISMS’s effectiveness. This is distinct from the information security risk assessment activities outlined in 6.1.2 and 6.1.3, which require different methods and considerations.
In practice, it’s rare for organizations to assess ISMS-specific risks and opportunities (per 6.1.1), and certification auditors seldom address this requirement.
To clarify, it’s proposed that the information security risk assessment activities (6.1.2 and 6.1.3) be moved to clause 8. This aligns with the structure of other management system standards (e.g., ISO 22301 for Business Continuity Planning). Additionally, a note similar to ISO 22301’s should be included:
“Risks in this sub clause relate to information security, while risks and opportunities related to the effectiveness of the management system are addressed in 6.1.1.”
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The “Risk Assessment analysis” covers key areas of risk assessment in information security:
Risk Assessment Process: The core steps include identifying assets, analyzing risks, and evaluating the value and impact of each risk. This process helps determine necessary controls and treatments to mitigate or accept risks.
Types of Risk:
Asset-Based Risk: Focuses on assessing risks to tangible assets like data or hardware.
Scenario-Based Risk: Evaluates hypothetical risk scenarios, such as potential data breaches.
Risk Analysis:
Impact Analysis: Measures the financial, operational, and reputational impact of risks, assigning scores from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high).
Likelihood Analysis: Assesses how likely a risk event is to occur, also on a scale from 1 to 5.
Risk Response Options:
Tolerate (accept risk),
Treat (mitigate risk),
Transfer (share risk, e.g., via insurance),
Terminate (avoid risk by ceasing the risky activity).
Residual Risk and Risk Appetite: After treatments are applied, residual risk remains. Organizations determine their acceptable level of risk, known as risk appetite, to guide their response strategies.
These structured steps ensure consistent, repeatable risk management across information assets, aligning with standards like ISO 27001.
The Risk Assessment Process involves systematically identifying and evaluating potential risks to assets. This includes:
Identifying Assets: Recognizing valuable information assets, such as data or physical equipment.
Risk Analysis: Analyzing the potential threats and vulnerabilities related to these assets to assess the level of risk they pose.
Evaluating Impact and Likelihood: Measuring the potential impact of each risk and estimating how likely each risk is to occur.
Implementing Controls: Deciding on control measures to mitigate, transfer, accept, or avoid each risk, based on organizational risk tolerance.
To streamline this process, organizations often use risk assessment tools. These tools assist by automating data collection, calculating risk levels, and supporting decision-making on risk treatments, ultimately making the assessment more consistent, thorough, and efficient.
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The ISO 27001 risk management guide provides a structured methodology for managing information security risks aligned with ISO standards. It first covers setting risk criteria, helping organizations define their risk appetite and identify high-priority assets and vulnerabilities. Risk assessment follows, where risks are quantified based on their likelihood and impact, allowing for prioritization.
The guide emphasizes the importance of treatment planning, advising on risk responses: avoidance, transfer, mitigation, or acceptance, with decisions documented for compliance. Documentation ensures transparency and traceability, forming a record of risk decisions.
A key component is regular review, where organizations reassess risks as threats change, supporting ISO 27001’s principle of continuous improvement. This cyclical approach helps keep the risk management framework adaptable and responsive to evolving security needs.
Additionally, the guide underscores the role of management, recommending their involvement in review and support of risk processes. Management buy-in ensures that security efforts align with strategic goals, encouraging organization-wide commitment.
In summary, the guide helps organizations maintain a robust, adaptive risk management system that meets ISO 27001 standards, enabling proactive risk control. For more detail, you can access the document here.
ISO 27001 certification is more than just a standard; it’s a powerful statement that transforms how your customers perceive your company. This certification represents an unwavering commitment to data security, acting as a digital shield for your business. By safeguarding your most valuable asset—your data—you build unshakeable trust with your customers, showing them that their information is safe in your hands.
Achieving ISO 27001 means your business isn’t just adhering to standards; it’s setting itself apart as a leader in data protection. This certification opens doors to new opportunities, enabling your business to thrive in an increasingly digital world. It’s about ensuring your business’s long-term sustainability and demonstrating a serious commitment to information security.
ISO 27001 is more than a quality seal; it sends a clear message to the world. It shows that your company prioritizes data protection, adheres to the best practices of information security, and reduces the risk of cyber incidents. It also signals that your business is trustworthy, boosting confidence among customers, suppliers, and business partners. This trust gives you a competitive edge, setting you apart from the competition and attracting new business opportunities.
In essence, ISO 27001 is an investment in the future of your business. It not only helps in improving risk management by identifying and mitigating information security risks but also strengthens your business’s foundation. By demonstrating a strong commitment to data security, you can ensure the longevity and success of your company in today’s digital age.
Overall benefits of ISO 27001 certification for businesses include:
Enhanced Data Security: ISO 27001 provides a systematic approach to managing sensitive company information, ensuring that data is protected from unauthorized access, breaches, and other security threats.
Increased Customer Trust: Achieving this certification demonstrates a commitment to data security, building trust among customers, partners, and stakeholders. It shows that your organization takes information security seriously.
Regulatory Compliance: ISO 27001 helps businesses comply with legal and regulatory requirements related to data protection, which can vary across different industries and regions. This reduces the risk of legal penalties and compliance-related issues.
Competitive Advantage: Companies with ISO 27001 certification can differentiate themselves from competitors. It acts as a quality seal, giving you an edge in the market and attracting new clients who prioritize data security.
Improved Risk Management: The certification process involves identifying, assessing, and managing information security risks. This proactive approach helps businesses to mitigate potential threats and vulnerabilities effectively.
Operational Efficiency: Implementing ISO 27001 often leads to streamlined processes and better resource management, as businesses adopt consistent and structured approaches to handling data security.
Global Recognition: ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard, which means your business can gain credibility and access to new markets around the world. It assures clients globally that your security practices meet high standards.
Business Continuity: By focusing on risk assessment and management, ISO 27001 helps ensure that your business can continue to operate even in the face of security incidents or disruptions. This resilience is critical for long-term success.
In summary, ISO 27001 certification not only strengthens your data security framework but also boosts your reputation, enhances compliance, and gives you a competitive edge, making it a valuable investment for any business.
Andrew Pattison, a seasoned expert with over 30 years in information security and risk management, emphasizes the pragmatic nature of ISO 27001 in this interview. He explains that ISO 27001 is often misunderstood as a rigid framework when, in fact, it takes a flexible, risk-based approach. This misconception arises because many implementers prioritize certification, leading them to adopt a “you must do X” attitude, which gives the impression that the standard’s clauses are more rigid than they are. Pattison stresses that organizations can tailor controls based on risk, selecting or excluding controls as needed, provided they can justify these decisions.
He explains that a true risk-based approach to ISO 27001 involves understanding risk as the combination of a vulnerability, a threat to that vulnerability, and the likelihood of that threat being exploited. Organizations often focus on sensationalized, niche technical risks rather than practical issues like staff awareness training, which can be addressed easily and cost-effectively. Pattison advises focusing on risks that have a real-world impact, rather than obscure ones that are less likely to materialize.
To keep risk assessments manageable, Pattison advocates for simplicity. He favors straightforward risk matrices and encourages organizations to focus on what truly matters. According to him, risk management should answer two questions: “What do I need to worry about?” and “How do I address those worries?” Complicated risk assessments, often bogged down by mathematical models, fail to provide clear, actionable insights. The key is to maintain focus on where the real risks lie and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Pattison also believes in actively involving clients in the risk assessment process, rather than conducting it on their behalf. By guiding clients through the process, he helps them develop a deeper understanding of their own risks, linking these risks to their business objectives and justifying the necessary controls. This collaborative approach ensures that clients are better equipped to manage their risks in a meaningful and practical way, rather than relying on third parties to do the work for them.
For more information on Andrew Pattison interview, you can visit here
The post discusses whether ISO 27001 certification is worth it, highlighting its benefits like improved reputation, enhanced security, and competitive advantage. ISO 27001 offers a comprehensive framework for managing information security risks, focusing on people, processes, and technology. Certification, though not mandatory, provides independent validation of an organization’s commitment to security, which can also reduce penalties in case of data breaches. It positions organizations to stand out, especially in regulated industries like finance and healthcare.
It’s predicted that more than $1 trillion in IT spending will be directly or indirectly affected by the shift to cloud during the next five years. This is no surprise as the cloud is one of the main digital technologies developing in today’s fast-moving world. It’s encouraging that CEOs recognize that it’s crucial for them to champion the use of digital technologies to keep up with today’s evolving business environment.
However, there are still concerns about using cloud services and determining the best approach for adoption. It’s important to acknowledge that adapting to emerging technologies can be challenging, particularly with the constantly expanding range of products and services. As a business improvement partner, DISC collaborates with clients to identify key drivers and develop best practice standards that enhance resilience.
What Influences Organizations to Store Information on the Cloud?
Organizations should align their business strategy and objectives to determine the most suitable approach to cloud computing. This could involve opting for public cloud services, a private cloud, or a hybrid cloud solution, depending on their resources and priorities.
Security concerns remain the leading barrier to cloud adoption, especially with public cloud solutions. In fact, 91% of organizations are very or moderately worried about the security of public cloud environments. These concerns are not limited to IT departments; 61% of IT professionals believe that cloud data security is also a significant concern for executives.
Despite these challenges, many organizations are influenced by the benefits of managing information on the cloud. These benefits include:
Agility: you can respond more quickly and adapt to business changes
Scalable: cloud platforms are less restrictive on storage, size, number of users
Cost savings: no physical infrastructure costs or charges for extra storage, exceeding quotas etc
Enhanced security: standards and certification can show robust security controls are in place
Adaptability: you can easily adjust cloud services to make sure they best suit your business needs
Continuity: organizations are using cloud services as a backup internal solution
Standards to help you Manage Information on the Cloud
Standards that focus on putting appropriate frameworks and controls in place to manage cloud security.
ISO/IEC 27001international standard for an Information security management system (ISMS). It is the foundation of all our cloud security solutions. It describes the requirements for a best practice system to manage information security including understanding the context of an organization, the responsibilities of top management, resource requirements, how to approach risk, and how to monitor and improve the system.
It also provides a generic set of controls required to manage information and ensures you assess your information risks and control them appropriately. It’s relevant to all types of organizations regardless of whether they are involved with cloud services or not, to help with managing information security against recognized best practices.
ISO/IEC 27017is an international code of practice for cloud security controls. It outlines cloud-specific controls to manage security, building on the generic controls described in ISO/IEC 27002. It’s applicable to both Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and organizations procuring cloud services.
It provides support by outlining roles and responsibilities for both parties, ensuring all cloud security concerns are addressed and clearly owned. Having ISO/IEC 27017 controls in place is especially important when you procure cloud services that form part of a service you sell to clients.
ISO/IEC 27018 is an international code of practice for Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on public clouds. It builds on the general controls described in ISO/IEC 27002 and is appropriate for any organization that processes PII. This is particularly important considering the changing privacy landscape and focus on protecting sensitive personal data.
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Adopt these standards today to ensure your organization effectively manages data in the cloud.
How to build a world class ISMS:
ISO 27001 serves as the foundation for ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and ISO 27701.
After conducting the risk assessment, it’s essential to compare the controls identified as necessary with those listed in Annex A to ensure no important controls were overlooked in managing the risks. This serves as a quality check for the risk assessment, not as a justification for using or not using any controls from Annex A. This process should be done for each risk identified in the assessment to see if there are opportunities to enhance it.
Any controls that you discover were unintentionally “omitted” from the risk assessment can come from any source (NIST, HIPAA, PCI, or CIS Critical Security Controls) and are not restricted to those in Annex A.
One should consider CIS Controls to strengthen one of the above frameworks when building your ISMS. CIS Controls is updated frequently than frameworks and are highly effective against the top five attack types found in industry threat data, effectively defending against 86% of the ATT&CK (sub)techniques in the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
Statement of Applicability (SoA) is typically developed after conducting a risk assessment in ISO 27001. The risk assessment identifies the information security risks that the organization faces and determines the appropriate controls needed to mitigate those risks.
In ISO 27001, the Statement of Applicability (SoA) is a key document that outlines which information security controls from Annex A ( or from (NIST, HIPAA, PCI, or CIS Critical Security Controls)) are applicable to an organization’s Information Security Management System (ISMS). The SoA provides a summary of the controls selected to address identified risks, justifies why each control is included or excluded, and details how each applicable control is implemented. It serves as a reference to demonstrate compliance with ISO 27001 requirements and helps in maintaining transparency and accountability in the ISMS.
The SoA is essential for internal stakeholders and external auditors to understand the rationale behind the organization’s approach to managing information security risks.
Cloud shared responsibilities:
Most companies appear to be operating in the hybrid or public cloud space, often without fully realizing it, and need to gain a better understanding of this environment.
Cloud shared responsibilities refer to the division of security and compliance responsibilities between a cloud service provider (CSP) and the customer. This model outlines who is responsible for specific aspects of cloud security, depending on the type of cloud service being used: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS).
The division of responsibilities varies based on the cloud service model:
IaaS: The CSP manages the basic infrastructure, but the customer is responsible for everything else, including operating systems, applications, and data.
PaaS: The CSP manages the infrastructure and platform, while the customer focuses on application development, data management, and user access.
SaaS: The CSP handles most security aspects, including applications and infrastructure, while the customer is primarily responsible for data security and user access management.
Understanding the shared responsibility model is crucial for ensuring that both the CSP and the customer are aware of their respective roles in maintaining cloud security, compliance and last but not the least managing risks in the cloud environment.
In summary, The shift to cloud computing is expected to influence over $1 trillion in IT spending over the next five years as companies increasingly adopt digital technologies to stay competitive. Despite the benefits of cloud computing—such as agility, scalability, cost savings, and enhanced security—many organizations face challenges, particularly around security concerns, which are a major barrier to cloud adoption. To navigate these challenges, businesses need to align their cloud strategies with their objectives, choosing between public, private, or hybrid cloud solutions. Additionally, implementing standards like ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, and ISO/IEC 27018 can help manage cloud security and compliance effectively by providing frameworks for managing information security risks and ensuring data protection. Understanding the shared responsibility model is also crucial for cloud security, as it defines the distinct roles of cloud service providers and customers in maintaining a secure cloud environment.
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ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized Information Security Standard that is widely acclaimed. It is published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and provides a certifiable framework comprising security policies and procedures. The standard aims to assist organizations in safeguarding their data by implementing an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
To obtain ISO 27001 certification, organizations must fulfill the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continuously improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS) that aligns with their specific business needs. The ISO 27001 standard consists of two distinct parts: Clauses and Annex A. The Clauses outline the general requirements for an ISMS, while Annex A provides a set of controls and objectives that organizations can choose to implement based on their risk assessment and security requirements.
Clauses 4-10 in ISO 27001 consist of mandatory requirements that all organizations seeking certification must fulfill. Each clause includes several sub-requirements. Here is a brief overview of each clause:
Clause 4: Context of the Organization – Organizations must determine the scope of their ISMS, identify internal and external issues relevant to information security, and define the interested parties.
Clause 5: Leadership – Top management should demonstrate leadership and commitment to the ISMS by establishing policies, assigning responsibilities, and promoting awareness.
Clause 6: Planning – This clause emphasizes the importance of risk assessment and treatment, setting objectives, and planning to achieve them.
Clause 7: Support – Organizations must provide the necessary resources, competence, awareness, communication, and documented information to support the ISMS.
Clause 8: Operation – This clause covers the implementation of risk treatment plans, management of changes, and effective operation of controls and processes.
Clause 9: Performance Evaluation – Organizations need to monitor, measure, analyze, and evaluate the performance of the ISMS and conduct internal audits.
Clause 10: Improvement – This clause focuses on nonconformities, corrective actions, continual improvement, and the management of incidents and improvements.
Meeting these mandatory requirements is crucial for organizations seeking ISO 27001 certification.
Annex A of ISO 27001 comprises a collection of security controls that are not obligatory but can be selectively implemented based on the specific needs of an organization. By conducting a risk assessment, organizations can identify the security controls that align with their security program and effectively address their risks and vulnerabilities. This approach allows organizations to tailor the implementation of controls to their unique requirements and enhance their overall information security posture.
After establishing the necessary policies, procedures, and documentation for ISO 27001 compliance and ISMS is operational, organizations can engage an accredited certification body to perform an audit. This audit assesses the implementation and effectiveness of the Information Security Management System (ISMS) against the ISO 27001 requirements. If the audit is successful and the organization meets all the necessary criteria, an ISO 27001 certificate will be issued, validating the organization’s adherence to the standard and their commitment to information security.
By adhering to ISO 27001 standards, organizations can establish robust policies, procedures, and technology measures that effectively safeguard their data, regardless of its location. This comprehensive approach significantly reduces the risk of cyber-attacks and fosters a culture of information security within the organization.
Obtaining ISO 27001 certification serves as a notable competitive advantage for businesses, irrespective of their industry or size. The certification acts as concrete evidence to customers that the organization is dedicated to protecting their data and fulfilling contractual security obligations. Moreover, ISO 27001 certification holds international recognition, making it instrumental in expanding global business opportunities and establishing trust with partners worldwide.
DISC LLC offers the expertise of a team comprised of former ISO auditors and experienced practitioners who can assist in preparing your organization for a successful ISO 27001 audit. Their services aim to guide you towards certification by identifying and addressing any gaps that may exist within your current security program. They provide support in implementing the required policies, procedures, and technologies to meet the ISO 27001 standards. With their knowledge and experience, DISC LLC can help your organization navigate the certification process and ensure a solid foundation for information security.
Following the attainment of ISO 27001 certification, we offer services to manage and maintain your Information Security Management System (ISMS). Our expert team will diligently oversee and guide your ISMS to ensure ongoing compliance with ISO 27001 requirements, thereby facilitating future certifications. By entrusting us with the management of your ISMS, you can focus on your core business activities while maintaining the necessary level of information security and sustaining your commitment to ISO 27001 standards.
We’d love to hear from you! If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our team is here to help and we’re always looking for ways to improve our services. You can reach us by email (info@deurainfosec.com), or through our website’s contact form.
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If you are already a qualified ISO 27001 auditor, enhance your career by taking ITG Certified ISO 27701 PIMS Lead Auditor Training Course, which will teach you how to conduct audits against ISO 27701, in line with international data protection regimes.
Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection — Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of privacy information management systems according to ISO/IEC 27701 in combination with ISO/IEC 27001 (DRAFT)Â
Within a year or so, organisations will be able to have their Privacy Information Management Systems certified compliant with ISO/IEC 27701, thanks to a new accreditation standard ISO/IEC TS 27006 part 2, currently in draft.
“Potentially, a PIMS certificate may become the generally-accepted means of demonstrating an organisation’s due care over privacy and personal data protection – a way to assure data subjects, business partners, the authorities and courts that they have, in fact, adopted good privacy practices.”
ISO/IEC 27006 | Wikipedia audio article
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bd_VXgmZ_o
If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don’t understand the problems and you don’t understand the technology.  – Bruce Schneier
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