ISO 27001:2013 is the international standard that provides a framework for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) to provide continued confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information as well as legal compliance. An Information Security Management System (ISMS) is a systematic approach to managing sensitive company information so that it remains secure. It includes people, processes, and IT systems by applying a risk management process to help organizations of any size, within any industry, keep business information assets secure.

Organizations of all types and sizes collect, process, store and transmit information in many forms. This information is valuable to an organization’s business and operations. In today’s interconnected and mobile world, information is processed using systems and networks that employ state-of-the-art technology. It is vital to protect this information against both deliberate and accidental threats and vulnerabilities. Effective information security assures management and other stakeholders that the organization’s assets are safe, thereby acting as a business enabler.

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With the increasing severity of data breaches in today's digitized world, ISMS is crucial in building up your organization's cyber security. Some benefits of ISMS include:

• Increased attack resilience: ISMS improves your ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from any cyber-attack.

• Manage all of your data in one place: As the central framework for your organization's information, ISMS allows you to manage everything in one place.

• Easily secure any form of information: Whether you want to protect paper-based, cloud-based or digital info, ISMS can handle every kind of data.

• Reduce the costs of information security: With the risk assessment and prevention approach provided by ISMS, your organization can reduce the costs of adding layers of defensive technology after a cyber-attack that aren't guaranteed to work.

ISO 27001 helps organizations to keep secure both their information assets and those of their customers. It provides requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS). It can be used by internal and external parties to assess the ability of an organization to meet its own information security requirements.

This International Standard has been prepared to provide requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS). The adoption of an ISMS is a strategic decision for an organization. The establishment and implementation of an organization’s ISMS is influenced by the organization’s needs and objectives, security requirements, the organizational processes used, and the size and structure of the organization.

The ISMS preserves the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information by applying a risk management process and gives confidence to interested parties that risks are adequately managed. It is important that the ISMS is part of, and integrated with, the organization’s processes and overall management structure, and that information security is considered in the design of processes, information systems, and controls. It is expected that an ISMS implementation will be scaled in accordance with the needs of the organization.

This International Standard can be used by internal and external parties to assess the organization’s ability to meet the organization’s own information security requirements. It specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an ISMS within the context of the organization. It also includes requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks tailored to the needs of the organization. The requirements set out in this International Standard are generic and are intended to be applicable to all organizations, regardless of type, size, or nature.

If your organization does not already have Information Security Management System (ISMS), the ISO 27001 standard and the companion ISO 27002 document can be used to establish one. And once your organization has  established your organization’s ISMS, you can use it to demonstrate that your organization is capable of keeping business information assets secure, and continually improving both its products and services and its practices and processes.