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INTRODUCTION
Why would your company need to keep its information safe? How can ISO 27001 help you achieve information security? And, is this book the right choice for you?
1.1 Why information security? Why ISO 27001?
Information security, cybersecurity, or data protection are not the things that are reserved any more for IT geeks only – this is something that concerns virtually any person on this planet, as well as any company.
If you were an executive in an organization 10 years ago, you probably would not be so concerned with any of these things. Today, you are in the second decade of the third millennium and you cannot ignore threats to your data anymore. What's more, in the future you will need even more protection. Why? Because the majority of organizations are now in the business of processing information.
Most of us imagine that a bank handles large amounts of cash every day. While the banks still conduct many cash transactions, the fact is electronic money transactions far outweigh cash transactions – in some cases by more than a million to one. So, this means that a typical bank is in the business of processing information – it is one large factory of information. And, guess what: For some time now, robbing a bank by hacking is far more profitable than walking in with a mask over your face and robbing the tellers. And, hacking is far less risky, too.
Think about your business; are you an information factory, too? Chances are, your business is, if not completely, then in most part about processing information. This means your business is more vulnerable. Your information, your knowledge, your know-how, and your intellectual property are all at risk. And now the one-million-dollar question, or if you are in a larger business this might be a one-billion-dollar question: What do you need to do to protect the information in your company, and where do you start?
The problem nowadays is there is an abundance of information about information security; you are probably bombarded with information about new firewalls, anti-virus software, frameworks, methodologies, legislation, and so on. Many companies offer services claimed to be the solution to all of your security problems. Yet, these individual solutions aren't going to protect you completely. For instance, you cannot solve the problem of a disgruntled employee with a firewall, the same way you cannot solve the problem of a hacker just by complying with a law.
So, it's obvious you need something more, something comprehensive. But, the challenge is where to even begin, what steps to take that will best protect your business.
This is where ISO 27001 comes in – as explained throughout this book, it provides a comprehensive framework that will help you with this crucial process. It gives you the necessary guidance and building blocks for protecting your company. ISO 27001 tells you where to start from, how to run your project, how to adapt the security to the specifics of your company, how to control what the IT and security experts are doing, and much more.
So, the point is – ISO 27001 doesn’t have to be just another bureaucratic compliance job – if implemented properly, it can be a very efficient tool not only to protect your company, but also to achieve some business benefits.
1.2 Basic information security principles
First, let us define what information is. Information is an asset of the organization, which has value to the organization and needs to be protected appropriately. Information can have various forms and can be stored on different media.
On the other hand, information security can be defined as protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information in various forms, such as written, spoken, printed, electronic, and so on.
Let’s see the official definitions of these terms from ISO 27000:confidentiality is “property that information is not made available or disclosed to unauthorized individuals, entities, or processes,”integrity is “property of accuracy and completeness,” andavailability is “property of being accessible and usable upon demand by an authorized entity.”
Yes, sometimes it is difficult to understand this ISO terminology, so here is an easy explanation of these basic concepts: if I come to a bank and deposit $10,000, first of all I do not