ISO 27001 Checklist – A guide to implementation
The challenge that many organizations face in preparing for ISO 27001 certification is the speed and level of depth that needs to be implemented to meet requirements. ISO 27001 is a risk-based, situation-specific standard.
Many companies review the requirements and struggle to balance risks against resources and controls, rather than evaluating the organization’s needs to determine which controls would best manage security concerns and improve the security profile of the organization.
When an organization begins to apply the standard to their operations, unnecessary or complicated solutions can be created for simple challenges. By under or over applying the standard to your operations, organizations can miss critical threats that may negatively impact the organization or expend precious resources and time on overengineering controls.
ISO/IEC 27001 Checklist & Steps to Certification
In order to implement an Information Security Management System (ISMS) that provides security that fits the organizational needs, the following should be considered for an effective implementation:
- ISO 27001 is a comprehensive standard with defined ISO 27001 controls; thus, many organizations seek a consultant to help understand the most practical and cost-effective approaches to information security management, which can reduce the timeframe and costs of an implementation to meet customer requirements
- Start with a gap assessment to provide a starting point
- Understand the scope of your program
- Determine the level of support needed
- Outline your security needs, including ISO 27001 controls – certification should support your security initiatives
- Establishment of an ISO 27001 Controls List
- Convert existing practices to meet requirements to minimize the impact to operations
- Educate staff on expectations of the standard and their role in information security
- Align ISO 27001 with compliance requirements can help an organization integrate multiple demands for regulatory and legal controls, helping align all controls to minimize the impact on resources on managing various compliance needs
- Conduct ISO 27001 risk assessment, and implement treatment and mitigation practices
- Develop an audit program to ensure your ISMS is properly maintained and is continually successful, starting with the initial achievement of ISO 27001 certification