ISO 27001 Policy Templates: Free Starter Pack

INFORMATION SECURITY POLICY

1. PURPOSE
This policy establishes [Company Name]'s commitment to information security and provides 
the framework for implementing and maintaining our Information Security Management System (ISMS).

2. SCOPE
This policy applies to all employees, contractors, vendors, and third parties who access 
[Company Name] information systems and data.

3. POLICY STATEMENT
[Company Name] is committed to:
- Protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information assets
- Complying with legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations
- Implementing ISO 27001 controls appropriate to identified risks
- Continuously improving our information security posture

4. INFORMATION SECURITY OBJECTIVES
- Maintain security awareness across all personnel
- Detect and respond to security incidents within [X hours]
- Achieve and maintain ISO 27001 certification
- Conduct annual risk assessments
- Review and update security controls quarterly

5. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Management: Provide resources and support for information security
- Information Security Manager: Oversee ISMS implementation and maintenance
- Employees: Follow security policies and report incidents
- IT Department: Implement and maintain technical controls

6. POLICY ENFORCEMENT
Violations of this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

7. REVIEW
This policy will be reviewed annually and updated as needed.

Approved by: [Name, Title]
Date: [Date]
Next Review: [Date + 1 year]

ACCESS CONTROL POLICY

1. USER ACCESS PROVISIONING
1.1 Access Requests
- All access requests must be submitted via [ticketing system]
- Requests require manager approval
- Access granted based on role and business need (least privilege)

1.2 Account Creation
- Unique user IDs for all individuals
- Default accounts disabled or removed
- Shared accounts prohibited (except where justified and documented)

2. AUTHENTICATION REQUIREMENTS
2.1 Password Requirements
- Minimum 12 characters
- Combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, special characters
- Password expiration every 90 days
- Password history: 12 previous passwords
- Account lockout after 5 failed attempts

2.2 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- Required for all remote access
- Required for privileged accounts
- Required for access to production systems

3. ACCESS REVIEWS
- Quarterly user access reviews by managers
- Annual comprehensive access recertification
- Access reviews documented and retained for audit

4. ACCESS TERMINATION
- Immediate access revocation upon termination
- Transfer reviews upon role changes
- Contractor access expires on contract end date

5. PRIVILEGED ACCESS
- Privileged access granted only when required
- Privileged account activity logged and monitored
- Regular privileged access reviews
- Just-in-time (JIT) access for elevated privileges

ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

1. PERMITTED USE
Company IT resources are provided for business purposes. Limited personal use is 
permitted if it does not:
- Interfere with work responsibilities
- Consume significant resources
- Violate any company policy

2. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES
Users must not:
- Access unauthorized systems or data
- Share credentials with others
- Install unauthorized software
- Download illegal or inappropriate content
- Engage in cryptocurrency mining
- Use systems for personal commercial gain
- Attempt to bypass security controls

3. EMAIL AND COMMUNICATION
- Professional and respectful communication required
- No harassment, discrimination, or offensive content
- Confidential information must be encrypted
- Suspicious emails must be reported

4. INTERNET AND NETWORK USE
- Prohibited: Illegal activities, malware distribution, network attacks
- Web filtering and monitoring may be implemented
- No expectation of privacy on company systems

5. DATA HANDLING
- Follow data classification guidelines
- Confidential data must not be stored on personal devices
- Use approved cloud storage only
- Report data loss or unauthorized disclosure immediately

6. MONITORING
[Company Name] reserves the right to monitor all IT systems and communications
to ensure compliance with policies and protect company assets.

PASSWORD POLICY

1. PASSWORD REQUIREMENTS
Length: Minimum 12 characters (16+ recommended)
Complexity: Must include three of four:
- Uppercase letters (A-Z)
- Lowercase letters (a-z)
- Numbers (0-9)
- Special characters (!@#$%^&*)

2. PASSWORD MANAGEMENT
- Passwords must not contain username or name
- Dictionary words prohibited
- Common passwords blocked (e.g., Password123!)
- Password expiration: 90 days
- Password history: Cannot reuse last 12 passwords

3. PASSWORD STORAGE
- Use password manager for password storage
- Passwords never stored in plain text
- Passwords not shared via email or messaging
- Passwords not written down or stored insecurely

4. MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION (MFA)
MFA required for:
- All remote access (VPN, cloud applications)
- Administrative/privileged accounts
- Access to sensitive data
- Email accounts

5. PASSWORD RESETS
- Self-service password reset available
- Identity verification required for help desk resets
- Temporary passwords expire upon first use
- Users must change password immediately after reset

6. SHARED/SERVICE ACCOUNTS
- Shared accounts require written justification
- Passwords changed when personnel changes occur
- Access to shared account passwords restricted
- Regular reviews of shared account usage

DATA CLASSIFICATION POLICY

1. CLASSIFICATION LEVELS

1.1 PUBLIC
- Information approved for public disclosure
- No confidentiality concerns
- Examples: Marketing materials, press releases, public website content

1.2 INTERNAL
- Information for internal use only
- Low sensitivity
- Examples: Internal announcements, process documentation, non-confidential reports

1.3 CONFIDENTIAL
- Sensitive business information
- Unauthorized disclosure could harm the company
- Examples: Financial data, business strategies, employee information, contracts

1.4 RESTRICTED
- Highly sensitive information
- Unauthorized disclosure could cause significant harm
- Examples: Trade secrets, customer personal data, security credentials, legal matters

2. HANDLING REQUIREMENTS

PUBLIC
- Storage: No restrictions
- Transmission: No encryption required
- Disposal: Standard disposal methods

INTERNAL
- Storage: Company-approved systems only
- Transmission: Within company network
- Disposal: Secure deletion

CONFIDENTIAL
- Storage: Encrypted storage required
- Transmission: Encrypted transmission required (TLS 1.2+)
- Access: Need-to-know basis
- Disposal: Secure deletion with verification

RESTRICTED
- Storage: Encrypted storage with access logging
- Transmission: Encrypted transmission with recipient verification
- Access: Explicitly approved only
- Sharing: Requires management approval
- Disposal: Certified destruction

3. DATA LABELING
- Email subject lines must include classification: [CONFIDENTIAL]
- Documents must be marked with classification
- Data classification reviewed annually

BACKUP AND RECOVERY POLICY

1. BACKUP SCOPE
The following systems and data are backed up:
- Production databases
- File servers
- Email systems
- Configuration files
- Critical application data

2. BACKUP FREQUENCY
- Critical systems: Daily incremental, weekly full
- Important systems: Daily
- Standard systems: Weekly
- Long-term retention: Monthly (retained 1 year)

3. BACKUP TYPES
- Full Backup: Complete copy of all data
- Incremental Backup: Only data changed since last backup
- Differential Backup: Data changed since last full backup

4. BACKUP STORAGE
- Primary backups: On-site encrypted storage
- Secondary backups: Off-site/cloud storage
- Geographic redundancy across multiple regions
- Encryption: AES-256 for all backups

5. BACKUP VERIFICATION
- Automated backup completion monitoring
- Monthly backup integrity testing
- Quarterly restore testing
- Test documentation maintained

6. RECOVERY OBJECTIVES
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO): [X hours]
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO): [X hours of data]
- Critical systems restored within 4 hours
- Standard systems restored within 24 hours

7. DISASTER RECOVERY TESTING
- Annual disaster recovery exercise
- Tabletop exercises quarterly
- Test results documented and reviewed
- Recovery procedures updated based on test results

INCIDENT RESPONSE POLICY

1. INCIDENT CLASSIFICATION

SEVERITY 1 - CRITICAL
- Widespread system outage
- Confirmed data breach
- Ransomware infection
Response Time: Immediate

SEVERITY 2 - HIGH
- Limited system outage
- Suspected data breach
- Malware detected
Response Time: 2 hours

SEVERITY 3 - MEDIUM
- Individual system compromise
- Security control failure
- Phishing attempt
Response Time: 24 hours

SEVERITY 4 - LOW
- Policy violations
- Security awareness issues
Response Time: 48 hours

2. INCIDENT RESPONSE PROCESS

DETECTION
- 24/7 monitoring and alerting
- User reporting via [security@company.com]
- Automated security tool alerts

REPORTING
- All incidents reported immediately
- Use incident reporting form
- Include: What, When, Where, Who, Impact

CONTAINMENT
- Isolate affected systems
- Preserve evidence
- Prevent spread
- Document actions taken

ERADICATION
- Remove malware/threats
- Patch vulnerabilities
- Verify threat removal

RECOVERY
- Restore from clean backups
- Verify system integrity
- Return to normal operations
- Enhanced monitoring

LESSONS LEARNED
- Post-incident review within 7 days
- Document lessons learned
- Update procedures as needed
- Communicate findings

3. INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM
- Incident Response Manager
- IT/Security Team
- Legal (for data breaches)
- Public Relations (for public incidents)
- Executive Management (Severity 1-2)

4. EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION
- Customer notification within 72 hours (data breaches)
- Regulatory notification as required
- Law enforcement notification (when appropriate)
- PR coordination for public incidents

CHANGE MANAGEMENT POLICY

1. CHANGE TYPES

STANDARD CHANGES
- Pre-approved, low-risk changes
- Follow documented procedures
- No additional approval required
Examples: Password resets, adding users

NORMAL CHANGES
- Changes requiring approval
- Risk assessment required
- Testing in non-production environment
Examples: Software updates, configuration changes

EMERGENCY CHANGES
- Urgent changes to resolve critical issues
- Expedited approval process
- Post-implementation review required
Examples: Critical security patches, system recovery

2. CHANGE REQUEST PROCESS
- Submit change request via [ticketing system]
- Include: Description, justification, risk assessment, rollback plan
- Approval required from Change Advisory Board (CAB)
- Scheduled during approved maintenance windows

3. TESTING REQUIREMENTS
- All changes tested in development/staging environment
- Test results documented
- User acceptance testing (UAT) for major changes
- Rollback plan tested

4. CHANGE APPROVAL
STANDARD: Automatic approval
NORMAL: CAB approval required
EMERGENCY: Expedited approval + post-review
HIGH-RISK: Executive approval required

5. IMPLEMENTATION
- Changes implemented during approved windows
- Implementation checklist followed
- Real-time monitoring during deployment
- Rollback executed if issues arise

6. POST-IMPLEMENTATION
- Change success verified
- Documentation updated
- Change record closed
- Lessons learned captured (major changes)

VENDOR MANAGEMENT POLICY

1. VENDOR CLASSIFICATION

CRITICAL VENDORS
- Access to sensitive data
- Critical business functions
- Extensive security review required

IMPORTANT VENDORS
- Limited data access
- Important but non-critical functions
- Standard security review

STANDARD VENDORS
- No data access
- Non-critical functions
- Basic security review

2. VENDOR ASSESSMENT
Pre-Contract:
- Security questionnaire completion
- Review of security certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001)
- Reference checks
- Risk assessment

During Contract:
- Security requirements in contract
- Data Processing Agreement (DPA) for data processors
- Right to audit clause included
- Breach notification requirements specified

3. ONGOING MONITORING
- Annual security reassessment
- Quarterly business reviews (critical vendors)
- Monitor security incidents
- Track compliance with SLAs
- Review SOC 2 reports annually

4. VENDOR ACCESS CONTROL
- Least privilege access
- Unique credentials (no shared accounts)
- MFA required for vendor access
- Access reviewed quarterly
- Access terminated when contract ends

5. VENDOR DATA HANDLING
- Vendor data inventory maintained
- Data encrypted in transit and at rest
- Data location restrictions in contract
- Data return/destruction upon termination
- Audit rights to verify data handling

6. VENDOR OFFBOARDING
- Access revoked immediately
- Data returned or destroyed (with certificate)
- Final security review
- Lessons learned documented

PHYSICAL SECURITY POLICY

1. FACILITY ACCESS CONTROL
- Badge access systems at all entry points
- Reception area for visitor management
- Visitors escorted at all times
- Access logs maintained and reviewed

2. SECURE AREAS
Server Rooms:
- Restricted access (IT personnel only)
- Biometric or keycard access
- 24/7 monitoring
- Environmental controls (temperature, humidity)
- Fire suppression systems

Office Areas:
- Badge access during business hours
- Intrusion detection after hours
- Clean desk policy for confidential information
- Secure document disposal (shredding)

3. VISITOR MANAGEMENT
- Photo ID required
- Visitor badge issued
- Sign-in/sign-out required
- Escort required in sensitive areas
- Visitor log maintained

4. EQUIPMENT SECURITY
- Equipment inventory maintained
- Laptops secured with cable locks
- Mobile devices encrypted
- Equipment decommissioning procedures
- Asset tags on all equipment

5. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS
- Fire detection and suppression
- Backup power supply (UPS)
- Temperature and humidity monitoring
- Water detection in server rooms
- Regular safety inspections

6. PHYSICAL MEDIA HANDLING
- Confidential documents locked when unattended
- Secure document disposal (cross-cut shredder)
- Backup media stored in secure location
- Media sanitization before disposal
- Media transportation encrypted and tracked