A well-functioning information management system is an essential component of any business operation. It protects both customer and organizational data and ensures compliance with the regulations and reduces risk to acceptable levels. It gives employees detailed policy documentation, training and clear guidelines on how to spot and combat cyber-attacks.
An ISMS can be developed for a variety of reasons, including to improve cybersecurity, to satisfy regulatory requirements or pursue ISO 27001 certification. The process involves conducting an assessment of risk in order to determine the impact of potential vulnerabilities, and selecting and implementing security measures to minimize risk. It also identifies the roles and responsibilities of committees and owners of specific information security activities and processes. It creates and records policy documentation and implements a continuous program of improvement.
The scope of an ISMS is determined by the information systems that an organization determines to be the most important. It also considers any applicable standards or regulations for example, HIPAA in the case of a healthcare organization and PCI DSS in the case of an e-commerce platform. An ISMS has procedures to detect and respond to attacks. For instance, identifying the source and monitoring data access in order to track who has access to which information.
The process of setting up an ISMS requires the approval of all employees and stakeholders. It is usually best to start with a PDCA (plan do, think check, act) model. This allows the ISMS to evolve in response to changing cybersecurity threats and regulations.