With the ever-changing threat landscape, information security is essential to every organization. ISO 27001 certification offers a globally recognized framework for organizations looking to demonstrate their commitment to securing information assets.
ISO 27001 is an international Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) standard. It provides a systematic approach to managing sensitive company information, including people, processes, and IT systems, to remain secure by applying a risk management process.
Why does ISO 27001 matter?
ISO 27001 certification can be beneficial to the business and pay off in a significant way. Some of the advantages include:
- Gaining a competitive go-to-market advantage, particularly internationally
- Winning deals against non-ISO 27001 compliant competitors
- Improving the sales cycle by removing security and compliance as an objection
- Selling upmarket by gaining the trust of larger enterprises
- Strengthening customer trust by proving that your service is secure
- Getting an expert third-party opinion on your security controls and policies
- Building a company culture of security and compliance
- Improving investor and partner confidence
- Preparing to advance into other compliance initiatives such as CMMC
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How does an organization effectively prepare for certification?
Whether you’re just starting the journey or are midway through, this post outlines the key steps you need to take to prepare for ISO 27001 certification efficiently and effectively, and how Tego can support your compliance efforts.
1. Get leadership buy-in. Top management support is critical for success. ISO 27001 implementation requires changes across departments, resource allocation, and cultural buy-in. Prepare a business case that outlines benefits, cost implications, and how ISO 27001 aligns with your strategic goals to present to your leadership team, clearly outlining why ISO 27001 is necessary.
The Tego approach – Our Tego Advisory Services team can help you create the outline you need to obtain leadership support. We can also articulate the pitfalls of not obtaining ISO 27001 and the impact it can have on your organization. Tego offers a phased approach to compliance that provides best practices, detailed documentation, and risk prioritization.
2. Define the scope of your ISMS. Establishing the scope of your ISMS is undoubtedly the most critical step when implementing an ISO 27001-certified system. You need to clearly define which parts of your organization the ISMS will cover. This includes physical locations, systems, departments, and data types. If you’re new to ISO certification, start with a manageable scope. You can expand coverage in future audits.
The Tego approach – Our team will assist you in building on your self-assessment by identifying the appropriate scope of systems to be included in the ISMS and assessing that scope by evaluating existing controls for alignment with those required of an ISO 27001 certification.
3. Conduct a gap assessment. Perform a detailed gap analysis comparing your current information security posture to the requirements of ISO 27001. The gap analysis should contain a list of current controls, non-compliance areas, and remediation recommendations.
The Tego approach – Our team will conduct a gap assessment to help your organization understand its status with ISO 27001 compliance, prioritize identified gaps, create a plan to mitigate them, and establish an Internal Audit service to manage the evidence required for successful certification.
4. Identify and assess risks. Risk assessment is at the core of ISO 27001. It identifies potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts across your information assets.
The Tego approach – We will interview key stakeholders, assess control implementation effectiveness, and validate security measures against certification criteria. The output of this assessment will include a detailed Readiness Report, outlining strengths, areas for improvement, and corrective actions required before engaging an ANAB-accredited certification body.
5. Develop required documentation. Documentation is critical for both implementation and audit readiness. Standard documents include: your Information Security Policy, Statement of Applicability, Risk Treatment Plan, Access Control Policy, Incident Response Plan, and Business Continuity Procedures.
The Tego approach – We provide the necessary documentation for audit readiness, including:
- Established and operational Internal Audit plan
- Comprehensive policies and procedures addressing identified control gaps
- Ongoing Internal Audit activities and quarterly reporting
- Regular updates on POA&Ms and tracking KPIs
- Re-assessment of key ISO27001 controls
6. Implement security controls. Based on your risk treatment plan, you should implement appropriate controls from Annex A of the ISO 27001 standard (or ISO 27001:2022 Annex A controls aligned with ISO 27002). These controls include: encryption of sensitive data, multi-factor authentication, employee training, and third-party risk assessments.
The Tego approach—Tego will help your organization implement the appropriate controls required for ISO 27001, following a risk-prioritized approach.
7. Conduct training and awareness. A strong security posture depends on people as much as technology. You should periodically train employees on policies, responsibilities, and secure behaviors. Training should be tailored by role and refreshed regularly.
The Tego approach—We offer periodic security training that can be tailored to your organization’s employees. Additionally, Tego can administer phishing tests as part of our security awareness training with employees. These tests are designed to determine whether your users can recognize a phishing attempt or if they would click on a malicious link. Test results are shared and discussed with your administrator to help users spot sophisticated phishing emails.
8. Monitor, measure, and review. Establish metrics and monitoring processes to track the effectiveness of your ISMS. Conduct internal audits and management reviews to ensure continuous improvement.
The Tego approach—After successfully completing the assessment, Phase 2 of the ISO 27001 assessment process focuses on addressing the identified control gaps, ensuring the operationalization of these controls, and preparing for the ISO27001 fieldwork.
9. Schedule the audit. Select an accredited certification body that understands your industry and schedule the audit in two stages. Stage 1 focuses on documentation review, while Stage 2 focuses on evidence-based implementation assessment.
The Tego approach—Our team will support the organization through ongoing internal audit activities and quarterly reporting. We also recommend penetration testing as part of our phased approach to security.
Achieving ISO 27001 certification isn’t a one-and-done project. It requires ongoing attention through continuous monitoring, annual surveillance audits, and periodic recertification. At Tego, we help organizations confidently navigate the ISO 27001 certification process. Whether you’re looking to build your ISMS from scratch or improve an existing one, our experts are here to guide you.