ISO 27001 Compliance: The 2025 Deadline and What You Need to Know

ISO27001 is a global standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) that offers a framework for managing an organisation’s information assets. Published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), it aims to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information within your organisation.

In 2022, ISO updated the framework from the 2013 version, setting a crucial deadline for compliance by October 31, 2025. If your organisation is accredited under the 2013 version, here’s a heads-up! You have just four months left to update, assess, and re-accredit to the new standard before your current certification expires.

Why the Change?

The reason for the update is straightforward. As more businesses adopt digital platforms and services, the threats to information security have increased. To better reflect current business practices, ISO has streamlined the compliance guidelines and expanded on risk management and organisational operations.

Key Changes

Here are the main updates:

• Streamlined Control Areas: The framework now groups controls into four main areas instead of the previous 14:
  • People
  • Organisational
  • Physical
  • Technological
• Reduced Number of Controls: The number of controls has been reduced from 114 to 93. However, many controls have been merged or altered, and 11 new controls have been added.
• New Attributes: The framework now includes attributes to better align with modern terminology, such as:
  • Control type
  • Information security properties
  • Cybersecurity concepts
  • Operational capabilities
  • Security domains

What Do You Need to Do?

Updating to the new standard involves revisiting your policies and procedures. If you already have ISO27001:2013 accreditation, you’re familiar with the process. Here’s a broad outline of what you need to do:

1. Gap Analysis: Compare the new requirements with your current implementation to identify areas that need updating.
2. Update Policies: Revise your policies to align with the new terminology and classifications.
3. Implement Controls: Add the required controls, document them, and ensure your evidence-gathering processes are robust.
4. Communicate Changes: Inform all staff who interact with the ISMS about the updates to ensure continuous improvement.

Next Steps

After making the necessary updates, conduct an internal audit to verify compliance. This is a critical step before coordinating with an external auditor for certification assessment. An internal audit helps demonstrate that continuous improvement processes are in place.

If you have checked all the boxes, you are ready to schedule an external audit to achieve ISO27001:2022 compliance!

However, if you need assistance with your internal audit or need to update your policies and procedures and need expert help, we are here to assist. Whether you’re new to ISO27001 or looking to update your accreditation, Ionize can help guide you through the process.