Cybersecurity Certification

Cybersecurity Certification

The ISO 27001 is by far one of the most established security frameworks globally, getting implanted, and in use with an estimated 1.5 million organizations. Those are just some of the impressive numbers promoting the rapid growth and adoption of the ISO 27001 framework, and among the key factors leading to the public sector taking notice and sitting up. Furthermore, ISO 27001 is one of the very first security standard developed mainly targeting the public sector in providing a set of guidelines for its implementation and release of security best practices. Inclusive with a quality management system, organizations can outline their directives and activities to content the needs of the local community.

Organizations operating in the public sector are some of the most important suppliers of goods and services to the world. Their activities include education, civil protection, transportation and the creation of employment opportunities. If these activities get threatened, lack quality or are unreliable; it can result in several problems to the community at large. The strategic alignment maturity model employed and designed by Luftman is commonly used in providing organizations with the most fitting tools and procedures required to provide insights into the IT and business relationship. They are hence enhancing activity delivery (Chumo, 2016). The fundamentals of the models are as shown in the below image.

The strategic alignment maturity model is commonly used as a form of a survey in assessing and determining the position the organization stands at with regards to its maturity, and preparation for certification. As soon as maturity is understood, the gathered information can prove vital in providing a roadmap to the organization to identify potential prospects which can promote the harmonious existence and relationship between IT and business. The strategic alignment maturity model consists of five significant levels which organizations must meet their requirements to proceed to the next level while preparing for the certification process.

The federal and private sector organization currently holds a level three position concerning the alignment models respective models, which is identified and categorized as the established focus process (Calder, 2017). The established focus processes level often involves the concentration of communication-based governance and processes towards a specified business goal or objective. The organization’s readiness for ISO certification in this level requires a series of criteria to be met to proceed. They primarily include;

• The organization establishing a set of requirements aimed at improving its decision-making process.
• The organization should put more focus and attention on its internal business processes, activities and process, which are often used in generating a long-lasting competitive advantage.

However, for this to get achieved, it is always recommended that businesses should always conduct a risk assessment before commencement by the internal audit team. The teams will perform the risk assessments with the aid of technological tools such as logging systems, security systems. First and foremost, the teams to be included in this process should ensure they have a basic understanding of the fundamentals of ISO 27001:2013 certification to achieve this objective.

All the relevant stakeholders whose involvement in the process is essential to include; all the senior management officials, all level company employees, departmental officials, vendors, investors, clients and company’s end customers. Without the immediate support of these stakeholders, the success of the risk assessments, and procedures for the readiness of the certification process could be in jeopardy (Tariq, 2016). The significant next step includes the establishment of business objectives, scope and context which the business aims at attaining with the ISO 27001:2013 certification.

The ISO 27001:2013 Certification Process

Because of the security frameworks popularity, acceptance rates and wide range of applications, ISO 27001:2013 is principally credible when tendering for extensive company work or the public sector. For most organizations, gaining the ISO 27001 certification could be the main difference between losing or winning a vital business contract. This is because the cybersecurity framework provides the organization with a marketing edge over a wide range of its competitors who have not yet adopted the technology. Thus, achieving ISO certification to the recommended and required standards places the businesses head and shoulders well above most other businesses.

With information security breaches on the rise and becoming now the new normal, corporate security teams get compelled to take dedicated and drastic measures aimed at reducing the risks and consequences of suffering a damaging security breach. With the use of ISO 27001:2013, this is achieved by following the steps defined in the certification process. Which are as follows;

1. Preparation

This generally involves ensuring that all personnel, business stakeholders and employees are made aware and have a basic understanding of what is entailed by the ISO 27001:2013.

1. Establishing scope, context and objectives.

For successful implementation and certification, it is crucial that the organization pins down their business goals and objectives from the outset.

• Establishing a management framework.

The management framework to be developed will primarily be used in describing and establishing a set of processes and procedures to be followed to meet the implementation objectives of ISO.

1. Conducting a risk assessment.

ISO requires the risk assessment process to be a formal process. This implies that the business should ensure that the process is to be planned, with the analysis, data, and results were recorded.

1. Mitigating risks by implementing controls.

Once the risks have been identified, controls to treat, or transfer the risks is implemented.

1. Monitor, measure and review.

• Conduct an internal audit.

Internal audits are done at planned intervals.

References

Chumo, K. P. (2016). Information systems strategic alignment maturity levels: Corporate and project implementation perspectives. Information Systems, 6(2), 81-91.

Calder, A. (2017). Nine Steps to Success: an ISO 27001 Implementation Overview. IT Governance Ltd.

Tariq, M. I., & Santarcangelo, V. (2016, February). Analysis of ISO 27001: 2013 Controls Effectiveness for Cloud Computing. In International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy (Vol. 2, pp. 201-208). SCITEPRESS.