Eight reasons why small businesses need ISO 27001 certification

Many business owners feel that ISO certification is exclusively for large companies, yet it helps small firms improve customer satisfaction, increase sales, assist with marketing, improve their competitive edge, save money, and increase turnover.  It also protects the business, its directors, staff and shareholders.

An ISMS is a set of protocols, records, technology, and processes that aids in the control, tracking, auditing, and improvement of your company’s information and cyber security. Obtaining ISO 27001 certification certifies that your organisation’s information security is managed in accordance with worldwide best practices, giving your clients the confidence they need to partner with you.

There are constant incidents of cyber-crime within the small business community, so many IT Directors recognise the importance of putting their information security policies and processes in order. Adopting the ISO 27001 standard is widely regarded as one of the most effective ways to address as many security risks as possible in a regulated manner.

 

Here are eight reasons why small businesses need ISO 27001 certification:

 

1)    You can better control risk within the organisation – A risk assessment based on existing information security is required by the ISO 27001 standard. Without a well-defined, well-controlled plan in place, maintaining security risk levels within an organisation is difficult. ISO 27001 is a standard that must be upheld by the organisation by conducting risk assessments that allow management and key stakeholders to keep information security threats under control. ISO 27001 ensures that measures for protecting information security are followed, therefore reducing threats and protecting the business.

2)    You will gain a competitive edge – ISO 27001 assists organisations in demonstrating excellent information security practices. It serves as a reminder to suppliers, new clients, and customers that data security is important to you and increases the chance of tender acceptance. Many businesses are recognising that good information security is an integral part of their Supplier Risk Management and ISO 27001 certification gives them the assurance they require. Even if individual clients do not want it, there is growing recognition that having ISO 27001 certification provides a high level of assurance to potential customers.

3)    You will increase your ability to tender for new business – Small businesses frequently miss out on contracts and new business because they are unable to demonstrate the level of data security protection that their clients want.

There is a growing recognition that even if your organisation has the strongest security in the world, sharing your data with third parties creates a weak link that can be exploited. Many firms demand that their vendors achieve ISO 27001 accreditation to demonstrate their commitment to strong information security.

4)    You will increase resilience to cyber-attacks and protect your reputation – Having an ISO 27001-aligned ISMS will ensure that your business has the policies and maintenance processes in place to defend information security and become more resilient to cyber assaults like data breaches, ransomware, phishing and hacking.

5)    You can meet regulatory requirements – The adoption of the ISO 27001 standard is becoming more common in businesses with some type of regulating authority. Many authorities, rather than creating their own set of security rules, define ISO 27001 as the standard approach to information security.

6)    You can give assurance to Senior Management – With the help of independent auditing, having ISO 27001 certification from an approved accreditor will assure Senior Management that information security policies are being adequately implemented.

7)    You will save money – Having ISO 27001 could reduce the cost of security incidents as you would have a robust system in place to investigate and take action to prevent cyber-attacks or data breaches occurring in the first place or at the very least, catch them early and be able to mitigate impact. This reduces the cost of downtime or disruption to operations too.

8)    You will continuously improve your information security – Having a formal and structured approach to information security performance ensures continual improvement and risk reviews, ensuring the ISMS is always aligned to business strategy and up to date with robust policies and processes.

 

How can we help?

We work with small businesses to achieve ISO 27001 certification, managing the process from end-to-end. Find out more here.