ISO 27001 is not something startups should think about for many years. An email from an enterprise customer wants to know your ISO 27001 certification as part our vendor security review.

The certification issue has been resolved and will be discussed next year. It’s tied into a contract the company wants to close.

ISO 27001 can be a excellent starting point, particularly for growing businesses. The trick is figuring out what needs to be done without changing a simple security program into an enterprise-sized compliance program.

Week One should be about Scope, not Shopping

It is common to compare compliance platforms and consultants. An alternative is determining what Information Security Management System, or ISMS is required to cover.

Scope is crucial because trying to include ineffective systems, locations or procedures can result in additional documentation and evidence requirements.

Small SaaS businesses, for example they may have an environment that is focused on cloud infrastructures employees’ devices, customer information, and some key vendors. Understanding the surroundings will assist in determining which certification is required.

Review the Security You Already Have

Companies researching ISO 27001 for startups sometimes assume they need to build an entirely new security operation.

This may not be the case.

A modern-day startup may require multi-factor authentication, limit employees’ access, keep records of system activity, control backups documents onboarding as well as offboarding, and also use the most well-known cloud providers. The current practices must be evaluated against ISO 27001 requirements, but beginning with what is effective can avoid unnecessary duplicates.

The remaining tasks include establishing policies, conducting the risk assessment, determining the applicable Annex A controls, completing the Statement of Applicability and obtaining the necessary evidence.

You can now identify which invoices pay for what.

When costs are not combined into one number, it is easier to understand the ISO 27001 cost.

The first-year costs for a small company could range from $10,000 to $30,000, depending on the amount of time spent by staff, software to guarantee compliance, and independent audits of certification. The consulting fee could be added, however it is not an essential expense.

It is essential to distinguish between ISO 27001 certification costs charged by a certified certification agency and software fees. A compliance platform may help in the organization of work, however it cannot award the certificate. Certification is awarded through an audit conducted by an independent company.

Then comes the evidence

An employee policy that states that employees’ access to company resources is suspended after the employee’s departure is not enough. The auditor needs to examine evidence to prove that the system is implemented.

ISO 27001 is based on the distinction between saying and showing.

CertAssist is designed to help you organize the work of CertAssist without directly connecting to a company’s live systems. It includes all the 93 ISO 27001 Annex A controls within one single board. It also provides editable templates for policy and evidence, as well as a Declaration of Applicability.

Templates can be employed by a small group to eliminate the laborious process of drafting each policy from scratch.

The Line to the Finish Line isn’t Certification Day

An organization that is just starting from scratch may need to take between three and six months getting prepared to be certified. It all depends on the security procedures they have in place, and the available resources. The certification body will perform the Stage 1 and Stage 2 auditories.

Achieving these audits doesn’t mean you have the right to forget about the ISMS. After certification, controls and proof must be maintained. Surveillance audits are to follow.

This is a crucial aspect to consider when making the program. Small businesses don’t just require an ISMS it can afford to create. It needs an ISMS so that its team will be able to operate realistically when the initial project has concluded.

It is rare that the biggest company is the one with the best ISO 27001 program. It’s one that complies with ISO 27001 standards, reflects authentic security practices, passes independent inspection and can be managed once everyone has returned to normal work.