Increasingly, the personal data of customers and employees isn’t just held inside an organisation. It’s used in specific business processes carried out by third parties to help improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Whether it’s a cloud software organisation hosting your customer management, HR systems or a partner, like Datagraphic, preparing your outbound and inbound mail, you need a provider of trust if you’re sharing data for processing. A provider with the same (or higher) levels of data protection as you.
Working with third parties that are highly certified and experienced in Information Security is a must. One of the key requirements to look for is a provider certified to the internationally recognised Information Security Management standard ISO 27001.
In this blog, we will go over what the certification is, who it’s for and the benefits of iso 27001 compliance for data processing.
What is the ISO 27001 certification?
The ISO 27001 certification is an internationally recognised standard that aims to protect vital information assets, such as employee and customer data.
More specifically, the ISO 27001 dictates specific requirements for establishing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
The main difference between ISO 27001 compliance and certification is that the former ‘adhere’ to the international standard and regulations without formal certification or recertification processes.
When entrusting a third party with your data, it’s vital that they are certified in as well as compliant with the ISO 27001 standard. Certification means the provider’s processes and data controls are regularly and independently audited. This will give you the highest levels of assurance that your information will be protected.
What are the benefits of ISO 27001 compliance and certification for data processing?
Information Security and compliance aren’t just priorities for IT-based staff. If your job role involves processing personal data, here are a few of the advantages of working with an ISO 27001 certified provider to do so.
Quality assurance
Working with a certified organisation is a way to guarantee a high standard of Information Security quality. The certification follows a rigid framework and is subjected to constant quality checks. These two factors help ensure an unrivalled level of quality.
Avoidance and mitigation of damages
One of the most important benefits of ISO 27001 certification is the reduced risk of security breaches. With the ISO 27001 certification, potential damages are mitigated, security breaches are less likely, and potential breakthroughs are tracked down and eliminated in the early stages.
Higher levels of trust
When it comes to handling personal data, trust is paramount. An ISO 27001 certification also doubles as a trust assurance.
Not only does it demonstrate that your data is being handled with integrity, but it also proves that security strategies and policies are continually developed and tested to further enhance the protection of your data.
The easy way to identify data security
The ISO 27001 certification is a way to validate a provider and identify those with high quality and trustworthy data security practices.
Rather than waste time sifting through proposals from potential suppliers – only to find their data security policy and technical information isn’t ISO 27001 certified – you can pre-qualify providers with confidence.
You can ask the ISO 27001 question early in negotiations, and be rest assured that your time will be wisely spent on a supplier with the ISO 27001 stamp of approval.
Improves security awareness
In most organisations, relationships are built on trust and a belief that people have your best intentions at heart and will naturally protect your data.
The ISO 27001 certification rubber stamps that trust, illustrating that security awareness is at the forefront of an organisation’s procedures and that data and Information Security practices are improved continually.
Prevents downtime
Efficiency is key when running an organisation, and a proactive data security policy will help prevent downtime in moments of crisis.
As part of the ISO 27001 certification and ISMS, any supplier you work with should have robust Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) plans. These plans help your service delivery to continue during a crisis: minimising disruption and downtime for your customers and employees.
Reduces loopholes in security
One of the most pertinent ISO 27001 benefits to organisations is reducing potential loopholes in security practices. These loopholes can be especially difficult to manage if your data is shared with multiple third-party providers.
The rigorous risk assessment and risk management processes and continual improvement of data protection policies help prevent data problems from occurring.
Attracts new business and employees
Demonstrating a commitment to Information Security is vital to consumers of your products/services and to employees working for your organisation. ISO 27001 certification signals to people the value you place on their data and shows you’re a reputable and trustworthy organisation.
Reduces the risk of cyber attacks
You may not be able to reduce the number of attacks your organisation receives from cybercriminals. Still, you can prevent ones from succeeding.
Working with third-party data processors that are ISO 27001 certified can provide your organisation with a strong level of protection against cyber attacks. Cybercrime is continuous and ever-changing.
The Information Security governance and controls set out for the ISO 27001 certification mean your data will receive higher levels of protection, and Information Security on-going due diligence will be part of the provider’s culture.
Reduce human errors
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) reports on data security incident trends and routinely shows breaches due to human error. When working with an ISO 27001 certified provider for your data processing, you gain the assurance that all their staff regularly receive Information Security Awareness training, which reduces the likelihood of human error and malicious practices.
Final thoughts
The benefits of ISO 27001 compliance and certification cannot be exaggerated. It’s a tremendously reassuring standard for anyone involved in processing customer, employee or other forms of personal data.
Having an internationally recognised certification, which is regularly reviewed by an independent auditor, demonstrates a continual commitment to improving and protecting important digital assets.
At Datagraphic, we place data and cyber security at the core of everything we do.
We process important documents, such as payslips, financial statements and medical letters through Aceni, our multichannel communication platform and need to handle personal data with extra care.
We’ve held ISO 27001 certification continuously since 2006 and can demonstrate a longstanding commitment and working knowledge of protecting client data.
To learn more about working with Datagraphic as a partner for the secure processing of your outbound and inbound communications, please get in touch. We can also further advise you on the benefits of ISO 27001 compliance and certification should you need it!
