An ISMS may be certified compliant with ISO/IEC 27001 by a number of Accredited Registrars worldwide. Certification against any of the recognized national variants of ISO/IEC 27001 (e.g. JIS Q 27001, the Japanese version) by an accredited certification body is functionally equivalent to certification against ISO/IEC 27001 itself.In some countries, the bodies that verify conformity of management systems to specified standards are called “certification bodies”, while in others they are commonly referred to as “registration bodies”, “assessment and registration bodies”, “certification/ registration bodies”, and sometimes “registrars”.The ISO/IEC 27001 certification,[2] like other ISO management system certifications, usually involves a three-stage external audit process:
- Stage 1 is a preliminary, informal review of the ISMS, for example checking the existence and completeness of key documentation such as the organization’s information security policy, Statement of Applicability (SoA) and Risk Treatment Plan (RTP). This stage serves to familiarize the auditors with the organization and vice versa.
- Stage 2 is a more detailed and formal compliance audit, independently testing the ISMS against the requirements specified in ISO/IEC 27001. The auditors will seek evidence to confirm that the management system has been properly designed and implemented, and is in fact in operation (for example by confirming that a security committee or similar management body meets regularly to oversee the ISMS). Certification audits are usually conducted by ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditors. Passing this stage results in the ISMS being certified compliant with ISO/IEC 27001.
- Stage 3 involves follow-up reviews or audits to confirm that the organization remains in compliance with the standard. Certification maintenance requires periodic re-assessment audits to confirm that the ISMS continues to operate as specified and intended. These should happen at least annually but (by agreement with management) are often conducted more frequently, particularly while the ISMS is still maturing.
Asset Management
The asset management domain deals with analyzing and attaining the necessary level of protection of organizational assets. The typical objectives of the asset management domain is to identify and create an inventory of all assets, establish an ownership on all assets identified, establish a set of rules for the acceptable use of assets, establish a framework for classification of assets, establish an asset labeling and handling guideline. Asset management, broadly defined, refers to any system that monitors and maintains things of value to an entity or group. It may apply to both tangible assets such as buildings and to intangible concepts such as intellectual property and goodwill.
An asset is anything that has value to the organization. Assets can include infrastructure (e.g. buildings, store houses, towers etc.), physical assets ( computer equipment, communications, utility equipment, heavy machinery), software assets ( applications, software code, development tools, operational software etc.), information (database information, legal documentation, manuals, policies & procedures, organizational documents etc.), services ( transport, air conditioning, communications, utilities etc.), people (management, skills, experience etc.) and imperceptible (reputation, image etc.).
Asset management is a systematic process of operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets cost-effectively. Organizations need to identify all assets and create and maintain security controls around them. For each asset a designated owner needs to be made responsible for implementation of appropriate security controls. When creating an asset management policy the organization needs to define the scope of the policy (which parts of the organization are covered under the policy), responsibility (who is ultimately responsible for the policy), compliance (is compliance mandatory or not, what are the guidelines to follow), wavier criteria (on what basis can someone ask for a waiver) and effective date (from when to when is the policy applicable).
- Typical policy statements for Asset Management include:
* All assets shall be clearly identified, documented and regularly updated in an asset register
* All assets of shall have designated owners and custodians listed in the asset register
* All assets will have the respective CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability) rating established in the asset register
* All employees shall use company assets according to the acceptable use of assets procedures
* All assets shall be classified according the asset classification guideline of the company
Asset management comprises of all the activities associated with ongoing management and tracking of assets some of which are as follows: asset discovery (physical & logical), create & maintain conclusive software library, create & maintain conclusive hardware stock, configuration management, physical asset tracking, software license management, request & approval process, procurement management, contract management, assessment on ISO 27001 and PCI controls, supplier/ vendor management, re-deployment & movement, retire & disposal Management, compliance to laws if applicable etc.
Asset Register
The asset register documents the assets of the company or scope in question. Typically all business functions are required to maintain an asset register of their business units. The asset register is required to contain, at a minimum, the following information about the assets: the asset identifier, the asset name, the type and location of assets; the name of the function and process that uses this asset, the asset owner, custodian and user and the CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) ratings of the asset. Organizations can choose to additional information into the asset register as necessary for example for IT assets can have IP address as part of them etc.
For all asset registers, a primary person responsible for the asset register needs to be identified. Typically the business unit head or director is the owner of the asset register and recognized functional heads identified are asset custodians. The asset owner is accountable for the comprehensive protection of assets owned by him/her. The asset owner may delegate the responsibility of applying the relevant controls for the maintenance of the assets to an individual/ function referred to as the ‘asset custodian’. It is the responsibility of the asset custodian to implement appropriate security controls that are required for the protection of information assets. It is the responsibility of all employees and third party staff to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the assets that they use.
Asset Classification
Assets need to be classified in order to provide an appropriate level of protection for a certain category of assets. Information assets need to be classified in terms of its value, requirements and criticality to the business operations of the company. Typical company classification guidelines follow restrictive principles. Some of the common classifications criteria which are used by companies are given below:
RESTRICTED: The restricted level of asset information pertains to highly sensitive information to the company; which when disclosed would cause substantial damage to the reputation and competitive position of the company in the market. Its unauthorized disclosure could adversely impact its business, its shareholders, its business partners and/ or its customers, leading to legal and financial repercussions and adverse public opinion. Examples of restricted information are details of major acquisitions, divestments and mergers, business and competition strategy, sensitive customer, competitor, partner or contractor assessments, intellectual property information, law enforcement and government related information.
CONFIDENTIAL: This category refers to asset information that relates to individuals or is otherwise restricted only to authorized users, but if disclosed outside the company would not harm the organization, its customers, or its partners. This classification applies to any sensitive business information which is intended for use within the company. Examples of confidential information include customer information, negotiating positions, marketing strategy, personnel information, internal company memos and presentations.
INTERNAL This classification refers to asset information that is potentially available to all personnel within the company, but is not public. This can also include information that is restricted to a group or project within the company, but is not designated as “Private” or “Restricted.” Examples of internal information include product design information, system documentation, company employee details, company organizational charts, minutes of department meetings.
PUBLIC This classification refers to asset information that has been published or obtainable from a published source, e.g. the Internet. Example of public information include published marketing material, company public statements or announcements, published company performance information, published job vacancies.
Asset Labeling
All important and critical assets to the company shall be labeled physically / electronically as per the information labeling and handling procedures of the company. The asset owners are required to ensure that their assets are appropriately labeled (marked) for ease of identification. This may exclude information classified as ‘public’. For each classification level, the handling procedures should include the assets introduction; secure processing, storage; transmission and destruction. Classification level must be indicted wherever possible for all forms of physical / electronic information that are sensitive in nature. For example: subject of email stamped with “Confidential” etc.