There are two forms of ISO 27001 audits- Internal Audit and External Audit. According to the ISO 27001 standard, an organization needs to have internal audits before it approaches an accredited external auditor for certification. Now, let's look at the two forms of audits, along with the process of Information Technology Security Audit.

Types of ISOO 27001 Audits

The two main types of ISO 27001 audits are described below:

1. ISO 27001 internal audit

ISO 27001 internal audits are those that are performed in-house to check if their ISMS is up to par with the standards required of the standard. Management may choose to employ an internal team or may contract an external auditor to conduct the internal audits.

How to initiate an ISO 27001 internal audit?

Let us look at the steps that must be taken to start initiating the internal audit process itself.

a. Identify business and security objectives

A brief alignment of your business and security objectives is a must. This is achieved by asking questions like which service, product, or platform your customers want ISO certified and what are your business-critical audit processes and products.

b. Define the scope of the audit

In the Scope Statement, you'll choose what information assets and systems to bring into the ISMS and prepare the Statement of Applicability SOA. In it, you’ll detail what you will impose on your organization using ISO 27001 certification in Bangalore services.

c. Risk assessment plan

Conduct an internal risk assessment on your assets and systems and identify the risks that can impact data confidentiality, integrity, and availability for those; assign a probability of their occurrence and peg the impact levels (high to low). The risk treatment consists of procedures to be undertaken to reduce the identified risks to an acceptable level.

2. ISO 17001 external audit

Once the internal audit gives a clean chit, organizations are ready to go for an external IT Security audit. The process of the external audit is the same as that of an internal audit; the difference is that it leads to certification (or recertification, as the case may be).

How to get started with an ISO 27001 external audit?

To get started with the ISO 27001 external audit, follow the given below steps:

a. Documentation review

The external auditor reviews the documentation prepared for ISO 27001 and compares it with the standard ISO. The auditor verifies all documents prepared for ISMS and reviews them to ensure you have all mandatory documents in place.

b. Main audit

The main audit is an evidential audit on a sample basis to check whether your organization is running the ISMS according to ISO standards. The auditor confirms that your organization's documents, policies, procedures, and controls are implemented and operational by the standard and meet your organizational goals.

c. Surveillance audit

The ISO 27001 certification maintains mandatory audits through periodic surveillance audits. They are not as comprehensive as the Stage 2 ISO 27001 audit. Usually, they are conducted at the end of the first year and the second year after the certification.

Conclusion

An audit is the evaluation of the effectiveness of security controls, risk management processes, and overall information security. The main objective is to ensure that the ISMS protects sensitive information, maintains data and systems' confidentiality and integrity, and assures availability. If you want to get your organization’s security audited or learn more about ISO 27001 certification, consult with Matayo.