ISO 27001 is not something that startup companies should be thinking about for many years. An email from an enterprise customer asks for your ISO 27001 certification as part our security audit of the vendor.
Certification is no longer something you need to be thinking about in the coming year. It’s tied into a contract that the company would like to terminate.
ISO 27001 can be a great starting point, especially for growing businesses. The trick is figuring out the actual requirements without turning a manageable security project into a large-scale compliance program.
The first week of the week should be focused on Scope, not about shopping.
It’s commonplace to assess compliance platforms as well as consultants. The best place to start is to define the requirements that an ISMS or Information Security Management System needs to be able to contain.
The scope of the project is crucial since adding unneeded processes, systems, or locations to the documentation could cause additional evidence or documents requirements.
Small SaaS companies, for instance might have a system that is focused on cloud infrastructures, employee devices, client information, and one or two key vendors. Understanding the environment will aid in determining what certification is needed.
Check out the Security You Already Possess
Some companies researching ISO 27001 as a startup think that they will need to build a new security operation.
It could be that it is not the situation.
Modern startups could already have established cloud providers and need multi-factor identification, restricted access to employees and system logs that can be used to manage documents for onboarding and offboarding. It’s still important to assess existing practices against ISO 27001, but if you start with what works now, it will help avoid unnecessary duplication.
Documenting policies, performing a risk assessment, determining the appropriate Annex A Controls, completing the Statement for Applicability and gathering evidence are the other tasks.
You will now be able to determine which invoices you pay for and what.
The ISO 27001 cost becomes much simpler to comprehend when costs aren’t combined into a single number.
When you consider the cost of an audit by an independent certifier, tools for compliance and time for staff A small business’s initial expense could range from $10,000 to $30,000. Consulting can be a cost in addition but it’s not mandatory rather than an automatic obligation.
The ISO 27001 certification cost charged by an accredited certification body is especially important to distinguish from software fees. A compliance platform can assist in the organization of work, however it’s not able to issue the certificate. Certification is awarded through an audit conducted by an independent company.
After the evidence follows the accusations
A policy that says the employee’s access to company resources will be revoked following the employee’s departure is not enough. The auditor must verify that the system is implemented.
That difference between proving and saying is central to ISO 27001.
CertAssist is designed to help you organize this process without connecting directly to live systems of a company. It contains all 93 ISO 27001 Annex A controls on one screen. It also offers editable templates for policy and proof, as well as a Statement of Applicability.
Templates are a great tool for a small group to eliminate the laborious process of drafting every policy from scratch.
Certification Day is Not the Final Line
Based on the company’s current security procedures and resources depending on the company’s security practices and resources, it could take a new company between 3 and 6 months to get certified. The body that certifies conducts its audits at both Stage 1 and Stage 2.
The ISMS will not be forgotten simply because you have passed the audits. The ISMS should continue to monitor controls and provide evidence. After certification, surveillance audits must be conducted.
It is important to think about this when creating the program. A small company doesn’t merely need an ISMS it can afford to create. It needs an ISMS to ensure that the team can be able to operate in a realistic manner once the initial project has been completed.
The most efficient ISO 27001 program for a smaller organization is rarely the biggest. It is one that meets the ISO 27001 requirements, is based on the best practices in security, is subject to independent audits and can be managed once everyone is back to normal work.