ISO 27001, A Must For Every Organisation

At the Information Value Chain breakfast forum organized by Digital Jewels in Lagos, it was revealed that ISO 27001 standing is a necessity for every business organization that must perform effectively in today’s business environment.

The Breakfast forum titled “Information Security Management Specification with Guidance for Use”, presents ISO 27001 as the replacement for the original document, BS7799-2. It is intended to provide the foundation for third party audit, and is ‘harmonized’ with other management standards, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

THE Managing Director of Digital Jewels Limited, a specialized information technology and project management firm, Mrs. Adedoyin Odunfa stated that the basic objective of the standard is to help establish and maintain an effective information management system, using a continual improvement approach. It implements OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) principles, governing security of information and network systems.

She explained that According to her, having this worldwide accreditation implies the organization is recognized as having undergone essentials IT checks which assures that all of the organization clients documents are securely stored and processed within its IT programmes. She said this indicates that important corporate data is safeguarded from threats such as hacking, virus, theft or organic disasters.

Furthermore ISO 27001 for every organization’s management should be about information assets, compliance to standards, understanding and managing risk, continuous improvement and building an enabling corporate culture.

Mrs. Adedoyin Odunfa added that the effective security of information assets requires strong management commitment, strategic processes, education and awareness, assessments and relevant technologies. Stressing this point, she said organisations should “make the protection of corporate information assets “the law”. Make adherence to policy and standards a condition of employment. Policy, standards, and procedures must become part of a corporations living structure, not just a policy development effort.”

She said organizations must create proper policies, procedures and regulations by which all employees must operate.