ISO 27001 Stage 1 Audit Checklist

Gaining ISO 27001 certification requires hard work. But with an effective checklist in hand, you can reduce time spent preparing and performing ISO audits significantly.

As part of the initial step, review all relevant documentation including policies and procedures in order to confirm they meet the standards requirements.

Scope of the Audit
Both auditor and auditee should understand exactly what their scope and audit criteria will be, to avoid disagreement between parties regarding what should be covered or evaluated. Without this understanding, disagreement could occur as to which opinions should prevail when it comes to evaluation processes and coverage requirements.

Scoping allows an audit team to decide what areas of an ISMS or BCMS will be audited; depending on your organization, this could involve one department, multiple processes and records or even all business operations. They will also consider any follow-up issues identified during past audits that may require further work from them as they scope this audit.

An external auditor will review your ISMS documentation, then discuss its implementation and compliance with ISO standards. Throughout this process, they may make recommendations to your company as to how it should address major nonconformities prior to final audit taking place.

Preparation
Stage 1 audits aim to ensure an organization has established and implemented an Information Security Management System (ISMS), including creating, implementing, maintaining, and improving policies to meet ISO standards as well as providing employees with regular security training sessions.

At this stage, an accredited ISO 27001 external auditor will conduct an in-depth review of all documentation your company has created to create and implement an ISMS. This process takes place onsite and involves reviewing documents, personal observations and employee interviews before collecting live evidence that your company meets ISO requirements; for instance if documents indicate daily system backups are implemented the auditor will verify them by reviewing backup logs.

At the conclusion of their initial evaluation, auditors will present a report detailing observations, major and minor nonconformities as well as opportunities for improvement (OFI). OFI should be identified as areas that must be rectified in order to meet certification standards; this helps bring your team together faster during testing phase while making sure no crucial details slip by unnoticed.

Auditing
At this stage, an auditor will conduct an evidential audit on a sample basis to inspect ISO 27001 policies and procedures in action. They may conduct walkthroughs of your ISMS processes, inspect documentation, review internal audit results and assess management reviews as part of this examination process.

Your ISMS must conform with ISO 27001 or they’ll flag issues that don’t. If they identify any major nonconformities, appropriate corrective action plans and evidence of those changes must be in place before certification at Stage 2 can be recommended.

If the auditor finds only minor deviations, they will provide you with a draft certificate of compliance for approval by you and issue it after final review by them. Once that process has concluded, your business is officially certified! It’s essential that you take time and care when preparing for an initial audit; doing so sets you up for success and reduces major risk – think of it like prepping for survival challenges outdoors – only with more structure and support available!

Reporting
This step involves conducting an internal audit of your information security management system (ISMS), to help establish its scope in relation to ISO 27001 certification process. An auditor will conduct a walkthrough and identify which policies, procedures and controls are working efficiently within ISMS as well as whether ISMS meets organizational objectives.

Internal audits provide a great starting point in your journey toward ISO 27001 compliance, with potential areas for improvement highlighted during an internal audit report. Should changes need to be made in your ISMS in order to enhance it further, these should also be documented accordingly.

Stage 2 audit is similar to an IT audit, in that it involves reviewing your entire ISMS and testing all Annex A controls against ISO 27001 standards and organization policies and procedures. While this can be time consuming, preparation is key.