ISO 27001 Cheat Sheet for 2017
We should qualify that there are, of course, no real ‘cheats’ available when seeking ISO 27001 certification.
At least not the sort that will give you an information security management system (ISMS) that can be externally accredited. And, according to the Government Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2016*, of those organisations surveyed, 42% looked for ISO 27001 to test or validate the security of providers of online services. This is likely to increase as vendors look to secure their complete supply chain.
However, there is one single way of making the project easier….ISO 27001 management software solution that will help you:
- make sense of the standard
- accelerate your implementation
- achieve your certification faster
- manage information security more effectively
- meet customer expectations faster
- sleep more soundly at night!
Gone are the days of endless Word and Excel documents that simply describe your policies and controls. Modern companies choose modern technology to achieve their goals quickly and to demonstrate a well run and effective ISMS.
Here’s how to manage ISO 27001 online for better results:
- Keep your entire ISMS in one secure online environment that can be accessed remotely, 24/7. No routing around in shared folders and no confusion over version control. Just a simple and pragmatic approach that links all the policies and controls with all the history, evidence, audits, reviews and tools to carry out the required processes.
- The biggest challenge when implementing ISO 27001 is managing internal resources and keeping the project on track. Visibility is key. Collaborate with colleagues, assign and set deadlines and review your Gap Analysis to keep focused.
- Copy from proven methodologies – this isn’t cheating, it’s common sense! Take a set of accredited policies provided within an online platform for managing them. Collaborate with team members to decide whether to adopt them, adapt them to better reflect your own work processes or replace them with your own. You’ll get a pragmatic approach to the standard and a huge headstart on your implementation.
- One of the things many organisations find difficult is creating a methodology for identifying, analysing, evaluating, and treating risk. No need to reinvent the wheel – use UKAS accredited tools with a proven methodology and get the associated policies included free of charge. A big improvement on the ‘shared’ document approach and one that gives immediate management oversight across the various risk owners in your business.
- Manage the workflows required for incident management, corrective actions, and even subject access requests (SAR) as required by EU GDPR. Assign to staff, set tasks, evidence treatment and link back to the controls and policies where applicable.
- Supplier management for information security is key to the integrity of the supply chain. Use tools to manage suppliers contracts, performance and reviews and link them to interested parties and risk management tools.
There are so many more ways a good ISO 27001 software solution can help you implement and maintain the standard easily and affordably.
The answers aren’t at the back, you’ll find them throughout the system!
*Government Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2016
