ISO 27001 is not something that a startup should be thinking about for a number of years. A promising enterprise customer sends an email “Please give us ISO 27001 as part of our vendor evaluation.”
The issue of certification is no longer a topic that will be debated next year. It’s tied to a contract that the company is looking to end.
ISO 27001 can be a ideal starting point for businesses that are growing. It’s difficult to figure out what’s required without turning an easily managed project into a compliance program for enterprises.
This Week, affixed to Scope and Not Shopping
The first instinct may be to start comparing compliance platforms and consultants. It is more beneficial to know what ISMS (Information Security Management System) will need to protect.
It is important to consider the extent of the project, since adding locations, systems, and processes that are not required can lead to the need for additional documentation or evidence.
For instance, a smaller SaaS company may have an environment heavily concentrated on cloud infrastructure, employee devices and customer information. The environment could also be dominated by a handful of key suppliers. Understanding the specific environment could help you decide what your certification program should focus on.
Take a look at the security you Already Possess
Certain companies that are researching ISO 27001 as a startup believe that they need to create an entirely new security system.
It could be that it is not the scenario.
Modern startups may already have established cloud providers and need multi-factor authentication, a restricted set of access to employees and system logs that can be used to manage the onboarding process and documentation for offboarding. The current practices must be compared against ISO 27001 requirements. However starting with things that are already working will help avoid unnecessary duplicates.
Documenting policies, performing a risk analysis, determining which Annex A Controls, completing the Statement for Applicability and gathering evidence are the remaining tasks.
It is now possible to identify which invoices you pay for and what
It’s simpler to comprehend ISO 27001 costs when they aren’t summarized in a single figure.
The first year’s expenses for a small company could be between $10,000 to $30,000 once the independent certification audit, compliance software, and time spent by internal staff are taken into account. The consulting fee could be added, however it isn’t an essential expense.
The ISO 27001 certification cost charged by an accredited certification body is especially important to distinguish from software fees. Although a compliance platform can assist in organizing the work, it’s not able to issue an official certificate. The independent auditing process is the process that validates the certificate.
Then comes the evidence
Writing a policy stating that access to employees is restricted after departure isn’t enough. The auditor needs evidence that the process actually working.
This distinction between saying and demonstrating is the defining factor of ISO 27001.
CertAssist helps to manage this work without the need to directly connect to live systems. It includes all 93 ISO 27001 Annex A controls on one screen. It also has editable templates for policy and evidence, along with a Statement of Applicability.
A small-sized team template will help you eliminate the inefficient formulating of every policy in one blank page.
Certification Day Isn’t the Finish Line
Based on the company’s current security practices and resources It could take a brand new business between three and six month to get certified. The certification body will then conduct the Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits.
The ISMS will not be forgotten simply because you passed the audits. Controls and evidence need to be maintained, and surveillance audits follow after certification.
This is a crucial aspect to think about when designing the program. It’s not enough for a small business to simply have an ISMS that is affordable. It’s in need of one that can realistically operate after the initial phase is over.
It’s rare to find that the largest organization has the most effective ISO 27001 program. It’s one that is in line with the standards, has real security practices, stands up to independent scrutiny and is easily manageable after everyone has returned to their jobs.