An entrepreneur can spend years without even thinking about ISO 27001. Then an email arrives from a promising enterprise customer: “Please provide your ISO 27001 certificate as part of our vendor security assessment.”
Certification is no longer something to think about in the coming year. It’s because of a contract that the company is trying to terminate.
ISO 27001 is a good start for many small-scale enterprises. The issue is understanding what actually needs to happen without turning a manageable security project into a large-scale compliance program.
Week One is about Scope, not Shopping
It’s natural to evaluate compliance platforms and consultants. The best place to start is to figure out what Information Security Management System, or ISMS must cover.
The scope of the document is important because trying to add unnecessary locations, systems or procedures can result in more documentation and require additional evidence.
Small SaaS companies, for instance could have an environment which is centered around cloud infrastructures including employee devices, customer information, and one or two key vendors. Understanding the current environment can help you determine which certification is required.
Take Inventory of Security You Already Have
Companies researching ISO 27001 for startups sometimes assume they need to build an entirely new security program.
That may not be true.
Modern startups might already have established cloud providers that require multi-factor authentication, restricted access to employees and system logs for managing, documentation for onboarding and offboarding. It’s still important to assess existing practices against ISO 27001, but if you start with what works today, you can avoid unnecessary duplicates.
Writing policies, conducting a risk assessment, determining the appropriate Annex A Controls, completing the Statement for Applicability and gathering evidence are the other tasks.
Know Which Invoice Pays for What
When costs are not combined into one number it becomes easier to understand the ISO 27001 cost.
The initial cost for a small business may be between $10,000 and $30,000, depending on the amount of time required by staff, software to guarantee compliance, and independent audits of certification. Consulting is a different expense but it’s not mandatory rather than a mandatory necessity.
The ISO 27001 certification cost charged by an accredited certification body is especially important to distinguish from software fees. While compliance platforms can aid in the organization of process, it is not able to issue the certificate. The process of independent auditing is what certifies the certification.
Then comes the proof
A policy that states the employee’s access to company resources is terminated upon their departure isn’t enough. A auditor must be able to demonstrate that the procedure actually works.
ISO 27001 is concerned with the difference between stating something and demonstrating it.
CertAssist manages this task without having to directly connect to an actual system. It displays all ISO 27001:2022 Annex A controls on one screen allows for editing of policy and evidence templates It also supports the Statement on Applicability and also allows read-only auditor access.
Templates can be used by small groups to avoid the time-consuming process of creating each policy by hand.
Certification Day Isn’t the Finish Line
A business that is beginning at the beginning may need to take between three to six months getting prepared to be certified. This will depend on the security procedures they have in place, as well as available resources. The body that certifies conducts audits at the stages 1 and 2.
The ISMS will not be lost just because you passed the audits. Controls and evidence have to be maintained as well as surveillance audits that follow following the certification.
This is an important element to take into consideration when developing the program. It’s not enough for a small business to just have an ISMS that they can afford. It requires one that its team will be able to run after the initial project has ended.
It is rare that the biggest company is the one with the best ISO 27001 program. It must meet ISO 27001 standards and reflects true security practices, endures independent inspection and is manageable after everyone has returned to their normal jobs.
