ISO 27001 Information Security ensures security in any project. Project Managers are certainly not expected to be experts in information security, however by including and integrating ISO 27001 Information Security within different phases, procedures and processes of each project, most importantly in project initiation and planning, project communication and project deliverable Project Managers can avail a secured opportunity and platform to deliver more secure and safe systems.
Considering the latest edition ISO 27001:2013, the inclusion of information security is a totally new feature which aims to integrate within different Project Management processes and procedures. Get further information and understanding of ISO 27001 (ISMS) Information Security Management System to grasp the in-depth understanding of its procedures. ISO 27001 integration and implementation of security needs within Project Management irrespective of the type and size of a project as per Annex A.6.1.5 – Information Security in Project Management.
What is needed to establish ISO 27001 Information Security in Project Management?
All projects whether internal or external needs resources, activities to progress and estimated time for completion of each project as per assigned milestones. Information Security can be integrated and implementation in different Project Management activities such as:
- Include and properly integrate information security within project objectives and deliverables. It is important to set measurable security objectives in order to have a well-secured plan with minimal lope holes for security breach or threat. Specific deliverables will indicate as measurable. Having measurable objectives such as; the company aims to decrease the information security threats, breaches and incidents by 50% at the end of 2018. This is a specific goal, where the project manager understands what is required and when is it required.
- Implementation of risk assessment in the initial stages of the project. Risk Assessment is considered as the most difficult yet very important part of any Information Security Project. If you have the standard tools, resources and clear objectives of what is needed than having a clear and extensive risk assessment at the start of the project can reduce the chances of failure in the project. The main aim of information security in project management is to minimize the occurrence of incidents by assessing risks throughout the project baseline. As a project manager, you also need to categorize those risks on the basis of their severity and importance so that each risk can be handled as per its importance to the project.
- Identify and apply treatment for the identified risks during the initiation phase and make sure to implement required security measures for each identified risk.
- Make sure to make the information security policy an obligatory part of all the phases and stages of a project.
Please note that it is crucially important to include and integrate ISO 27001 information security management in different project activities, especially of those projects which directly deals with sensitive information and target confidentiality and integrity.
What are the benefits of ISO 27001 Information Security in Project Management?
If you follow and implement information security within your organization it will always stay a part of your management and thus will be implemented in all of your projects. Thus, the organization will also be accountable to and comply with all the clauses and requirements set forward by ISO 27001.
This immediate control will also help to provide required significance and presence to the information security within the organization, which works as a positive set point for any project.
Since it isn’t viewed as a basic necessity of a standard, however as a basic parameter in addressing to and executing any project within the organization. Some prominent benefits of Information Security in Project Management are:
- It helps the project managers secure the information available in any form within the project including, the company secured documents, digital database, data and information devices and cloud servers etc.
- It increases resilience to different security threats, including data breaches and cyber-attacks.
- ISO 27001 provides a single platform or database to manage information security of all projects under one roof while keeping the sensitive information of your organization safe.
- By implementing ISO 27001 Information Security Management System within the projects especially through the initiation phase, organizations can detect and identify potential risks and respond accordingly. Thus, provides a more secure way to reduce threats of reoccurring risks.
Conclusion
Generally, it is accentuated that information security is a process and not a separate project. However, it is important to understand that each part or component of information security should be taken as a project and must be treated and applied accordingly within the organization and its projects.
The establishment of information security must be taken as a core pillar or basic foundation of any organization and must be integrated seamlessly into the project objectives, activities, and deliverable. Establishment of a successful and secured development policy should be taken as a basic pillar for a secure service.
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