The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is crucial in the global business landscape, offering a universal framework for quality, safety and efficiency. These standards published by ISO ensure that products and services consistently meet reliable benchmarks, fostering trust and confidence among consumers and stakeholders.
By adhering to ISO standards, businesses can enhance operational efficiency, reduce risks and improve customer satisfaction. Moreover, ISO certification can open doors to international markets, demonstrating a commitment to excellence and compliance with globally recognized best practices. This not only boosts a company's reputation but also contributes to sustainable growth and competitive advantage in an increasingly interconnected world.
Our cybersecurity practice, in collaboration with Mastermind, an accredited certification body for ISO standards, breaks down some of the context and background information that shape the development and adoption of these conformity standards.
Who Determines International Standards?
ISO was established in 1947 and has been a consortium of subject matter experts and technical committees spanning over 170 countries. It is an independent, non-governmental organization that develops and publishes international standards for products, services and systems.
The ISO member in the U.S. is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Its appointed delegates represent various business and industrial organizations, standards-setting bodies, trade associations, labor unions, professional societies, consumer groups and academia. ANSI’s work not only contributes to the final text of ISO standards but also results in nearly 10,000 publications that have been voluntarily adopted by federal, state and local bodies across the United States for regulatory and procurement purposes.
ISO has published over 25,000 standards — covering diverse fields such as information technology, health, transport, management services, environmental sustainability, energy, safety, food and agriculture, engineering, construction, materials, and diversity and inclusion. From time zones and measurements to food preservation, encryption strength and system uptime, ISO standards are all around us.
Accreditation & Achieving ISO Certification
Of the more than 25,000 standards developed by ISO, approximately 80 are classified as management system standards (MSS). Broadly, MSS contains requirements against which an organization can claim conformance. Within this subset, about a dozen standards allow organizations to certify conformance through an impartial audit conducted by a conformity assessment body, commonly referred to as a “certification body.”
Like other frameworks popular in the United States, such as SOC examinations under the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and HITRUST certifications via the HITRUST Alliance, ISO maintains oversight through accreditation bodies. These bodies enforce rules on certification bodies to ensure integrity, consistency and accountability across ISO certificates.
All ISO audits follow a common methodology with uniform rigor, reporting, and standards of knowledge and experience among auditors. To uphold these standards, accreditation bodies issue licenses (i.e., scopes of accreditation) to certification bodies, which must be renewed annually after a thorough assessment of ongoing practices and sample client file reviews.
Only organizations certified by these accredited certification bodies hold valid ISO certificates.
Popular Information Technology ISO Standards
Among service provider organizations and in the field of information technology, the most widely recognized MSS and extensions to MSS are:
Information Security: ISO 27001
ISO 27001 provides size and industry-agnostic requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an information security management system (ISMS). To conform with ISO 27001, a business must have a governance program in place that respects the best practices and principles established in the International Standard for the management of data owned or handled by the company and the associated risks. This standard helps companies address weaknesses and be proactive and risk-aware for all parts of the triad: confidentiality, integrity and availability.
Privacy: ISO 27701
ISO 27701 prescribes rules and requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving a Privacy Information Management System (PIMS) within an organization including objectives for controllers and processors of personally identifiable information (PII). The controls described within ISO 27701 are applicable to all sizes and types of organizations and align with multinational regulatory texts through its embedded annex, which maps to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR).
(ISO standards typically follow a 5-year review cycle — ISO 27701:2019 is anticipated to be revised in calendar year 2025.)
The ISO 27000 Series
The ISO 27000 series include several extension standards that allow organizations to apply the controls implemented for ISO 27001 and supplement these descriptions for risks associated with cloud security (ISO 27017) and cloud privacy (ISO 27018).
It is common for cloud-first organizations to adopt these extension standards within a management system artifact known as a Statement of Applicability, which demonstrates to customers that their controls address risks commonly associated with the shared responsibility models adopted between customers and hyperscale providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
Similarly, the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) develops and maintains its own framework, the Cloud Controls Matrix, which builds on ISO 27001. The CSA also provides a certification mechanism for the Cloud Controls Matrix audited and issued by these same certification bodies for public listing on CSA’s Security, Trust, Assurance, and Risk (STAR) registry.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): ISO 42001
ISO 42001 was created for companies utilizing AI products or services for the purposes of performing assurance testing with regards to the responsible use of AI systems. In the fast-paced field of technology, this standard is the world’s first AI-related certification scheme. ISO 42001 addresses ethics, transparency and continuous learning structured to mitigate risks associated with these powerful AI systems.
How Cherry Bekaert Can Help
Cherry Bekaert offers comprehensive Cybersecurity & Information Assurance services, including readiness reviews, gap and benchmarking assessments, end-to-end implementation advisory, and formal third-party audits with scheme-specific attestations across a wide range of frameworks, including SOC Reporting (27001), HITRUST and Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). Our services are tailored to guide clients from foundational stages to advanced maturity, meeting organizations where they are and methodically advancing their programs while strengthening customer trust in their roles as critical vendors and service providers.
Reach out to our Cybersecurity & Information Assurance team to learn how we can boost your organization’s credibility and trust with customers, strategic partners and stakeholders by demonstrating compliance with industry standards and best practices. Our experienced team helps identify areas for improvement, mitigate risks, ensure regulatory compliance and strengthen your company's reputation and competitive position in the market.
Cherry Bekaert has partnered with Mastermind, a certification body that employs only full-time Lead Auditors residing within the United States and holds notable distinctions, including issuing the world’s first accredited ISO 42001 certification for an AI Management System (AIMS). Mastermind maintains an accreditation scope for each of these ISO standards, as registered with the International Accreditation Service.
Related Insights
- Article: FAQ: Getting Started With ISO Certifications
- Article: The Impact of a SOC 2 Report on Your Organization Value and Customer Relations
- Article: A Guide To Understanding Service Organization Control (SOC) Reports
- Article: Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM): Top Strategies for Managing Vendor Risks
- Article: Supply Chain Cybersecurity: How to Mitigate Third-Party Threats and Reduce Organizational Risk
