In the process of securing a business and achieving a full certification with ISO 27001, there are many different tasks that need to be accomplished, and many different people who need to be working towards achieving those tasks. In fact, a key part of a successful certification and a passing audit is accountability. Different people will need to take on different roles and responsibilities, some of which are for the purposes of the audit, and others for ongoing security.

The full process for achieving ISO 27001 compliance is lengthy, expensive, and difficult. While you can take many steps to make it easier, faster, or cheaper, there’s only so much you can sidestep the ground-level legwork that needs to be done to succeed. Fortunately, we can help you smooth out the process. A few weeks ago, we published a checklist for the full process to achieve ISO 27001 certification.

Two years ago, The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published a long-awaited update to their primary cybersecurity framework, ISO 27001. The previous version, ISO 27001:2013, was nearly a decade old and in need of a refresh. The new version, ISO 27001:2022, is currently the version in effect. As part of the roll-out of ISO 27001:2022, companies were given instructions on how to transition to the new version from the 2013 version.

ISO 27001 is one of the most important security frameworks in the world. Any business that wants to operate internationally, especially if they have contracts with certified brands or international governments, or they want to open the door to those contracts, will need to achieve ISO 27001 certification. There’s just one problem: it can take a long time to achieve. How long?

Achieving ISO 27001 compliance and certification will open countless doors with governmental, industrial, and other business relationships. As an internationally-recognized and trusted security framework, it’s taken quite seriously. That means you have to put your all into achieving certification if you hope to pass the auditing process. At Ignyte, we can help.

NISPOM is an increasingly important part of the regulations surrounding work as a government contractor and is especially critical if you handle classified information. It’s also a lengthy and detailed part of the Federal Register and is complex enough that it often takes a specialist to know what’s important and what’s required. So, let’s talk about it.

As of now, the final rule for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification has been published. The clock is ticking for organizations to make the changes they need to make, adhere to the multi-phase schedule required to achieve certification, and continue their work with the federal government across the board. As organizations, both large and small, start to dig into this work, it becomes increasingly clear that certain individuals and roles are critical to have on hand.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC, has been a long time coming. It was first developed in 2019, primarily as a way for defense contractors for the Department of Defense to switch from self-attestation to a validated certification. CMMC 1.0 has been in effect since 2020, but there has been a lot of feedback regarding the complexity and clarity of the system, leading to the development of CMMC 2.0.

If you’re a firm that works with foreign governments, in addition to certifications like ISO 27001 that you will generally need to achieve, you will also have to have processes in place for handling foreign government information or FGI. It’s not enough that your internal network is classified and access controlled; you need specific handling processes and procedures for managing FGI separately from other confidential or classified data you may have.

Information and digital security frameworks like FedRAMP, CMMC, and ISO 27001 are not static documents. They provide a static framework for your business to comply with and achieve, but that framework is only valid for so long. Several different forces are in play to ensure that the stipulations and security measures outlined in these frameworks remain valid over time.