Background of ISO 27000
During the past few decades of the digital era we have benefited greatly from the exposure to various information networks, especially the global Internet. However, as cyber-attacks became the norm and more organizations suffered from information system breaches, we came to the realization that information security needed to be taken more seriously than ever before.
Not only cyber-attacks have raised governmental level security concerns on global scale, they also became the sticking point of digital transformation for organizations, especially for those dealing with taxes, finances, sensitive personal information, as well as other critical data. Businesses nowadays need to start focusing on information security, and pave their way to success by protecting data from any breach, misuse or theft.
One common misconception is that the scope of information security is only limited to computer systems and digital data storage. Nonetheless, the depth and breadth of information security are much larger than that, and are often left unaddressed in many organizations’ risk assessment processes and risk management frameworks. That is why many companies often skip the elaboration and documentation of their data policies, including data collection, storage, distribution, sharing and disclosure policies.
Fortunately, ISO 27000 recognizes these potential issues, and provides effective control mechanisms to overcome and mitigate them.
ISO 27000 at a Glance
ISO 27000 is a series of standards that were designed to safeguard organizations’ information assets. ISO 27000 also gives an overview of an Information Security Management System (ISMS), defining and describing the logically organized set of processes that guide organizations to align their business goals and objectives with their information security.
More precisely, ISO 27000 guides organizations throughout their information security risk management, from formulation-to-execution, supervision, adjustment, evaluation and maintenance, to ensure that sensitive information assets (e.g. financial, intellectual, personal and behavioral data) are secured whether they are first-hand or secondary data.
Why ISO 27000?
Information security risk management is inevitable given the fact that there are thousands of security threats every day to your information systems. Faced with potential financial and reputational loss caused by cyber-attacks, organizations need to keep a wary eye on all the known and unknown risks – if you have never been attacked before, it does not mean that you cannot or will never become a victim.
ISO 27000 can bring peace of mind by raising information security awareness, introducing effective and trustworthy measures and fostering a culture of security. With the help of ISO 27000, management will have more confidence when optimizing their information security reserves towards business goals. Being ISO 27000 certified will also improve an organization’s overall quality, as well as portray a positive corporate image and business etiquette.
ISO 27000 Compliance Challenge
Although ISO 27000 is very comprehensive with quite straight-forward applicability, organizations still have some major difficulties when implementing ISMS due to the ever-evolving global environment. Following are some of those challenges which are worth mentioning:
Pervasive Network Systems
Technology has immersed into almost every part of our personal and professional life, and it is inevitable for us now to provide information through wireless portable devices allowing multiple access points. The omnipresence of network systems increases vulnerability of our information security. Educating people on the potential danger and securing ubiquitous networks can be quite challenging.
Insufficient Knowledgeable Workforce
Conventional E-Commerce Practices
Emergent Information Security Discipline
Enterprise Risk Management Complexity
Changing Regulatory Landscape
ISO 27000 & our Integrated Management System (IMS) solution
Interfacing’s Integrated Management System (IMS) solution incorporates, QMS (Quality Management System) SOP (standard operating procedure), Risk management, compliance and audit, BCM (business continuity management), MDM (master data management) and other frameworks and solutions aiming at continuous improvement and digital transformation of an organization. IMS touches every aspect of ISMS while supporting business and compliance goals.
Our innovative IMS solution offers added strength to ISO 27000 over process control. Using IMS to pinpoint vulnerabilities of information security systems throughout processes can help organizations evaluate their risks in a more precise and systematic manner, formulate an all-around risk management plan, identify all critical steps and responsible personnel for implementation, and generate accurate audit trails throughout the data lifecycle.
Some prominent benefits of using Interfacing’s Integrated Management System for ISMS are:
Quality Improvement
IMS helps organizations streamline and optimize processes, draw interdependencies between processes, resources, roles, rules, risks and controls, and visualize real-time data in an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Monitoring your performance and controlling your information security can be achieved through customized widgets, dashboards and reports embedded in the Integrated Management System platform. Moreover, IMS facilitates implementation of other best practice frameworks, whether they are related or unrelated to ISMS, to support organizations’ continuous improvement management.
Agile Change Management
Traditional risk management methodology focuses on structure and system rigidness, while Interfacing’s IMS software platform adopts a SaaS model that can be implemented and rolled out in stages. As regulations, laws and policies regarding information security evolve on a daily basis, organizations are obliged to take instant action to attest compliance. IMS helps ISMS absorb and implement changes using an agile approach to accelerate change initiatives and minimize impacts followed by changes.
Comprehensive Risks & Controls
IMS empowers organizations to be more proactive when it comes to risk management. It supports a complete risk management lifecycle from risk identification, assessment, prioritization, association of controls and planning mitigations. Our Digital Integrated Management System solution can dynamically visualize risks in different graphs and matrices, generate risk analysis and reports, and facilitate internal and external audit efforts.
Data Stewardship
With integration capabilities with third party systems, Our Integrated Management System solution is capable of creating a single source of truth for your centralized data reference and data lifecycle management. A unified and inclusive Digital Integration platform ensures data ownership, integrity and consistency across departments. Organizing your data in a standardized way in return plays a pivotal role in strengthening your information security.
Cross-departmental Collaboration
An Integrated Management System (IMS) solution, with one common repository, allows employees to access knowledge and share best practices based on roles. Setting different security levels enable organizations to engage all internal and external stakeholders to collaborate on the same processes or tasks without sacrificing information security. Sharing information, raising improvement requests and getting notifications directly within the IMS platform further reduces collaboration frictions, especially for teams located in different locations or using different devices.
Bottom-line Empowerment
ISO 27000 & SOC2
ISO 27001 is a global standard defining all requirements and controls related to the systematic preservation and protection of information. This standard applies to all organizations of any size and industry. ISO 27001 is comprised of 114 security controls and 10 clauses that are grouped into 14 sections. Specifically, the ISMS (Information Security Management System) defined in the clauses (4 to 10), gives an organization the ability to keep its levels of security in alignment with its ability to meet the desired objectives and outcomes of its business based on a risk management approach.
Using ISO 27001 as your company’s security management foundation, in effect means that your organization is already performing many of the activities required to achieve a successful SOC 2 audit and certification.
ISO 27001 and SOC 2 working together
We shouldn’t be asking which of the two frameworks to use simply because SOC 2 is an audit report while ISO 27001 was designed as a standards certification established to create a specific Information Security Management System. This means that SOC 2 can be seen as an output brought on by the delivery of an ISO 27001 ISMS implementation.
The relationship between SOC 2 and ISO 27001 can best be seen as while ISO 27001 is not mandatory in a SOC 2 report, the completion of an ISO 27001 ISMS implementation provides (with little cost and effort) a solid basis for the preparation of the SOC 2 report. Additionally, client confidence and trust is further increased with the use of both frameworks, certified as completed within your organization.
How Interfacing Assists in Easing the Burden of SOC 2 and ISO 27001 Documentation
With the growing complexity of managing SOC 2 requirements, organizing information in a central location becomes increasingly important. When an auditor comes to site, they will assess management’s oversight of their third-party service providers as well as the company’s own controls. The majority of this oversight revolves mainly around documentation and the ability to review it. Proving this to an auditor means providing them with a record management system that can draw on the speed of access to the who, when and how’s of the organizations operations objectives.
Keeping this in mind is what documentation workflow automation is all about. Creating a safe, secure and protected data ecosystem is our commitment to seeing your organization meet a successful SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification.
How Interfacing Can Help
Interfacing’s Digital Integrated Management System solution, Enterprise Process Center® (EPC), meets ISO 27000 requirements with its robust central repository along with its full-fledged features and interconnected modules. As a recognized leader in QMS & GRC (Governance, risk and compliance) products, EPC offers a wide range of solutions including document management, performance analysis, data governance, risk assessment and auditing, laser focused on ISMS for organizations of any type or size.
Our software supports:
Interfacing’s Consulting Services for ISO 27000
Eliminate risks related to your information security is invaluable. Besides the IMS platform, Interfacing helps organizations manage ISO 27000 initiatives with its corporate compliance management services provided by our own Interfacing Team of Professionals.
Our consulting & IT services cater for each step of the ISO 27000 attestation process, including identification of compliance requirements, assessment of current state of compliance, prioritization of compliance tasks and corrective actions, estimation of the costs of total compliance vs. non-compliance, fund allocation and initiation of tasks, continuous monitoring and management of compliance tasks, and more.
Use Interfacing’s compliance management support to implement your ISO 27000 programs, accelerate changes, and become a qualified ISO 27000 practitioner! Discover how we helped numerous companies succeed here.
Learn how we can help you manage Compliance
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