ISO 27001

ISO 27001 specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS). Unlike prescriptive frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001 is risk-based: organizations define their own scope, conduct a formal risk assessment, select controls from Annex A, and apply them proportionate to their risk profile. Certification is granted by an accredited third-party certification body following a two-stage audit.

The Annex A control set — 93 controls across four themes in the 2022 version — covers organizational controls, people controls, physical controls, and technological controls. Engineering teams most frequently encounter the technological controls: access management, cryptography, secure development, vulnerability management, and logging. These are not policy documents — they are implemented system capabilities that auditors test for operational evidence.

ISO 27001 certification is increasingly required for enterprise sales in EMEA, APAC, and regulated industries globally. The certification is recognized across jurisdictions in ways that US-specific frameworks like SOC 2 are not. Organizations selling to UK, EU, Middle East, or APAC enterprise clients often find ISO 27001 is a procurement prerequisite that SOC 2 alone does not satisfy.

We architect ISO 27001 ISMS controls into the system from day one — defining scope and risk treatment plans during architecture, implementing Annex A technical controls through infrastructure-as-code, and generating audit evidence continuously through automated logging and access control systems. Our teams have delivered ISO 27001-ready systems targeting 90-day certification timelines.

Compliance-Native Architecture Guide

Design principles and a structured checklist for building software that is compliant by default — not compliant by retrofit. Covers data architecture, access controls, audit trails, and vendor due diligence.