What Is ISO 27001 And Why Do You Need It?

In the contemporary world, data is pivotal for all types of companies. They store enormous volumes of data for the purpose of analysis. This data cover almost every aspect related to the respective business and includes data about clients, employees, past employees, IP or Intellectual property. Moreover, companies also collect data about the communications and finances where the respective company has been involved in a way.

This data is immensely important for the survival and growth of businesses. Companies charter their strategies based on this data. A large team of data analysts and data scientists are employed by the companies to assess the data and draw patterns to help the business.

Since data, today is more important than Gold, it always faces the threat of data breaches. This threat is posed by both external factors such as hackers as well as internal actors such as rouge employees.

In a recent event, Block, a Cash App, faced a major data theft of about 8.2 million former and current users. Such data breaches not only lead to financial losses but also earn a bad reputation for the companies. In the worst case scenario, it can also lead to penalties.

ISO 27001 is a broad collection of rules developed by the ISO (International Standard Organization) to deal with issues related to data breaches. Companies can use these standards to set up, operate and monitor their information security systems.

The ISO 27001 standards are all-encompassing and cover all types of data including data in hard copies as well as soft copies. This is a definite improvement over standards like GDPR which only cover standards concerning only customer information.

The primary aim of ISO 27001 certification is to secure people and processes and also make sure that all companies take necessary data risk management decisions in a consistent manner.

It has three pillars, which are as follows:

Confidentiality 

It signifies that the data, as well as the network, must be protected from any kind of unauthorized access by any person and involves checks like data encryption and security tokens.

Integrity 

The term “integrity” refers to ensuring that data is accurate and trustworthy. It relates to ascertaining whether only authorized individuals have access to sensitive data.

Availability 

It signifies the maintenance of information security management systems (ISMSs). This involves the removal of security weak points from the systems such as updating the software and hardware.

Benefits of Certification to ISO 27001 for Business:

Although businesses are bound to comply with ISO 27001, it is the businesses that get benefited at the end of the day. Following are some of the key benefits of ISO 27001 certification.

  1. ISO 27001 helps in protecting consumer data in a robust manner by nullifying chances of data breaches.
  2. Businesses can locate their weaknesses and vulnerabilities in maintaining the security
  3. Fortify cyber resilience and save companies’ data and networks from hackers
  4. End clients prefer to rely on businesses that have ISO 27001 certification because it signifies the safety of data and networks.
  5. B2B’s reputation also improves as ISO 27001 is proof that a certain company has the capacity to comply with required standards.
  6. ISO 27001 helps businesses avoid fines and penalties.
  7. Lastly, complying with ISO 27001 indirectly also results in compliance with many other standards such as HIPAA. NIST SP 800, etc. To find out more you can click here.