What Is ISO 27001 Certification And How Do You Get Certified?

If you don’t have an Information Security Management System (ISMS) then an ISO 27001-aligned one is the best place to start, as the Standard assures that your information security processes and controls are sufficient to secure data, documents and other information assets.

To certify to the Standard, the organisation must demonstrate to an external, qualified auditor that its ISMS aligns with information security best practices defined by ISO/IEC 27001:2022 guidelines.

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How Your Organisation Can Benefit From An ISO 27001 Certification

4-Step Process To Acquire & Maintain Your ISO 27001 Certification 

To help your organisation get started in complying with the ISO 27001 standard, our Discover service provides the following deliverables:

  • Conduct ISO 27001 Compliance Gap Assessment: Risk Crew will assess your current information risk management processes, operations, policies and ISO 27001 controls against those recommended by the standard, to identify the current compliance “gap” and then generate a comprehensive report of our findings and recommendations to remedy that gap.
  • Create ISO 27001 Compliance Activities Roadmap: Findings will include a detailed list of actions required for your organisation’s full compliance, in a project plan format of your choice. The roadmap will cite specific actions required for compliance, proposed action owners, target completion dates and estimated budgets required.
  • Conduct Stakeholder Workshop: Upon completion, Risk Crew will conduct a half-day workshop for key business stakeholders to ensure their understanding of the remedial actions needed for compliance and the estimated resources and timeline required.

This service results in a solid understanding of the standard and what’s required from your business to comply.

Our Assist service offers all deliverables from our Discover service plus the following:

  • Identify, Locate and Classify Information Assets: Risk Crew will review your business model and interview your key business stakeholders to identify, locate and value the sensitive information assets processed, stored and transmitted by your organisation.
  • Create Data Classification and Marking Schemes: Once these information assets are identified, we will create suitable classification and marking schemes to ensure appropriate handling and security controls are applied and compliance requirements (such as Data Protection) are met.
  • Create Information Asset Register: All information assets will then be documented citing their sensitivity level, value, owner and location in information technology systems for reference in accordance with the standard. This document provides the inventory for risk management.
  • Perform an Information Security Threat and Risk Assessment: Risk Crew will then conduct a comprehensive information threat and risk assessment. This identifies the potential security threats to your organisation’s information assets, the likelihood and impact of these threats occurring and recommended remedial actions. Risk likelihood and impact calculation formulas will be agreed upon with you prior and the outcome will be delivered in a Risk Treatment Plan format that will serve as your foundation for tracking and managing risks to your information assets across the organisation.
  • Conduct Risk Strategy Workshop with Stakeholders: Upon completion of the above deliverables, Risk Crew will hold a half-day workshop with your key business stakeholders to ensure their understanding of the threat and risk assessment results and confirm and establish the information risk appetite, tolerance and capacity levels for the organisation.
  • Create Template ISMS Documentation for Customisation: We will then provide a template of ISMS documentation to include a draft Statement of Applicability (SoA), sample information security policies and procedures for the organisation to customise to their business processes and risk objectives.
  • Conduct Mock Audit: When you are ready, Risk Crew will come in and conduct a mock audit and provide an ISO 27001 compliance report to ensure certification readiness.

This service provides the framework essential for compliance and is ideal for organisations that have operational resources but specifically lack in-house information security risk management expertise.

The outcome serves as the foundation for an effective, operative information security management system and requires the implementation of remedial actions, policy customisation, control implementation, testing, and education of your users for completion of your compliance requirements.

Our Implement service offers all the deliverables from both our Discover and Assist services and the items below. This popular service comes with our 100% guarantee that you will pass your compliance audit.

  • Customised ISMS Documentation for the Business: Risk Crew will create fit-for-purpose ISMS documentation to include a compliance-specific Statement of Applicability (SoA) along with bespoke information security policies and procedures for the organisation to implement.
  • Control recommendations: Risk Crew will also recommend cost-effective information security controls where required to ensure policy implementation and compliance. Control recommendations shall include control objectives, control configuration (if required) control evidence and control testing procedures.
  • Conduct Network and Website Security Vulnerability Assessment Scanning: Risk Crew will then conduct automated vulnerability assessment scanning to identify security weaknesses associated with your business systems and website for remediation in accordance with the standard.
  • Conduct Network and Website Security Penetration Testing: Risk Crew will also conduct manual security penetration testing of your business systems and website to attempt to identify and exploit associated weaknesses in accordance with the standard.
  • Implement Information Security Awareness Training Program: Risk Crew will provide computer-based information security awareness training to your staff to ensure their understanding of cyber security threats to the business along with their roles and responsibilities for compliance to policies and incident reporting in accordance with the standard. Face-to-face workshops with cyber security experts are also available in lieu of or to supplement this training depending on your preference.
  • Conduct ISMS Workshop with Stakeholders to Ensure Understanding, Roles and Responsibilities: Upon completion of the above, Risk Crew will hold a full-day workshop with your key business stakeholders to ensure their comprehensive understanding of the ISMS, its goals and objectives, key performance indicators (KPIs), and staff roles, responsibilities and ongoing actions required to support it.

This comprehensive service provides everything you need for your ISO 27001 compliance short of implementing the policies and the procurement of any controls needed and is designed for organisations looking for a cost-effective, turn-key solution. If, for any reason, your initial audit produces any additional remedial actions required for certification, we will implement these actions at no charge to you.

If your organisation is currently ISO 27001 compliant then you know that once you get compliant the challenge is to stay compliant.

Risk Crew can help you meet this challenge with a variety of support services from delivering on-going requirements such as conducting risk assessments, scanning, testing and delivering information security awareness training to providing continuous ad-hoc advice and assistance to answer questions, clarify requirements and ensure you stay the course of compliance.

Why Choose Risk Crew To Get Your Business ISO 27001 Certified 

Experienced Practitioners

Risk Crew has over 30 years of practical knowledge. Our information security experts hold CISSP, CISA, CISM and CRISC certifications.

Complete Transparency

We provide you with full knowledge transfer throughout the entire engagement to help your organisation achieve and maintain ISO 27001 certification.

On-Going Support

Risk Crew helps you maintain compliance with a variety of support services including risk assessments, security testing and staff awareness training.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

We think deeply, question assumptions, detect cause and effect and deliver measurable results. No one else does that. Our deliverables produce metrics you can use to monitor and manage real-world cyber risks.

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Our Certifications And Accreditations

Client Testimonials

“The ISO 27001 gap assessment call with Nick helped us to realise what would be necessary to begin our certification project. He made timelines, requirements, resources needed and the audit process easy to understand. It put us on the right track to have confidence that ISO was achievable and gave us direction on how to present to the board.” 

Information Technology Officer | Insurance Industry

“Professional from start to finish, Risk Crew have helped enormously in overhauling our business’ cyber risk management. From testing our systems, highlighting areas to improve on and assisting in helping us achieve compliance with ISO 27001 & Cyber Essentials they have truly transformed the way we work.”

Security Consultant | Finance Industry

“Our relationship with Risk Crew started when they were hired to conduct Third Party Supplier audits on behalf of one of our large clients. We had been on our ISO27001 journey for a number years and decided to work with RC to help us over the line. Since then they have been our go to, for Cyber Essentials, 27001, GDPR compliance and Penetration testing services.”

Chief Information Officer | Logistics Industry

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Instil customer confidence and gain new business with ISO 27001 Certification

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the process for becoming ISO 27001 compliant?

The first step is to define the scope of ISO 27001 compliance. This could be the whole company or just a part of it. Once the scope has been defined there is usually a gap analysis to see what information security infrastructure is already in place and what is required to align it with the ISO 27001 standard. Additional workstreams would address any gaps identified and will look to build an Information Security Management System (ISMS) following ISO 27001 requirements.

How do I get ISO 27001 certified?

Before achieving ISO 27001 certification an organisation must first meet the requirements of the standard and be able to provide evidence to support that compliance. To become certified a company will undergo a two-stage audit by an externally accredited ISO 27001 auditor. The first stage looks at the documentation to establish whether it is in line with the requirements of ISO 27001. Stage 2 is different as the auditor will conduct a thorough assessment to establish whether the organisation’s ISMS is compliant with the ISO 27001 standard and will look for evidence that the organisation is following the documentation (policies, procedures, etc.) in practice. The audit report will confirm a pass or a fail and include any findings that need or should be addressed.

Why is the ISO 27001 certification important?

The ISO 27001 certificate is important for a business as it helps to strengthen the three areas of cyber security: people, processes and technology. The ISO certification gives you the correct tools to minimise the risk of data breaches and the fines associated with them.

Is ISO 27001 compliance expensive?

Achieving ISO 27001 compliance will almost certainly require an organisation to invest time and effort. However, this investment pays dividends when you consider the general improvements to an organisation’s approach to information security. Breaches of data can be very expensive to an organisation especially if the data includes personal and/or sensitive data. GDPR introduced maximum fines of 20,000,000 EUR or 4% of on organisation’s revenue and no organisation wants to incur those penalties. Becoming ISO 27001 compliant can help an organisation reduce the risk of data breaches and not pay fines.

How long does the ISO 27001 compliance process take?

The length of time required to get a organisation to be compliant with the standard will vary depending on the organisation’s size and it’s starting position. If there is no information security infrastructure to work with then it will take a lot longer than if the existing policies and procedures just need to be aligned to the standard.

What are the benefits of becoming ISO 27001 compliant?

There are multiple benefits to becoming ISO 27001 compliant in addition to improving the organisations security posture. Some government departments or agencies will require ISO 27001 before awarding contracts. The same is true of many banks and financial institutions. It may also be a valuable differentiator between your organisation and competitors.

How much does the ISO 27001 certification cost?

The cost of the ISO 27001 will factor in the size of the business, number of employees, sector and annual turnover. The cost of the certification will also vary depending on how you decide to implement it, which could vary depending on if you use a contractor or a consultant. Risk Crew offers a variety of consultancy options to help you gain and maintain ISO 27001 compliance. Get in touch to find out more.

Should I implement ISO 27001:2022?

Certification bodies will not offer ISO 27001:2022 certification immediately as they will be transitioning themselves to understand the audit process to the new standard. It’s best for all new implementation projects to adhere to ISO 27001:2022 so when the Certification Bodies are ready you will be too. Have more questions on the new standard? Get in touch – we’re happy to help.