ISO 27001 internal control auditing should be adding value

Successful companies have always enthusiastically embraced internal controls. They help guarantee the efficacy and security of everyday business operations, support the reliability of internal and external reporting, and ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations and contractual commitments. Effective and thorough internal control auditing can set your business apart from others who are less stringent in this area, since it shows potential customers and clients that you take their data and any internal data and communications seriously.

Firstly, why ISO 27001?

ISO 27001 focuses primarily on 3 key aspects of business data security: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. It is a globally recognised standard on how best to manage information security and is applicable to all businesses. The value it adds to an organisation cannot be understated. In the decade leading up to 2019, for instance, the number of ISO 27001 certifications grew by 450%. With stringent security measures in place, greater trust is invested in your company, which can help with growth, reliance, and the way an organisation is perceived.??

Here are some more ways internal controls enhance company value:

Reduces costs

Effective risk-management processes, such as ISO 27001, help you to select the appropriate security measures needed to reduce your risk exposure and the cost of incidents that occur. Successful businesses trim unnecessary costs; and while it may sound expensive to implement rigorous cyber security controls, it is nowhere near as much as it costs to fix them once they’ve occurred.

Protects company image

A good company image can be tarnished far quicker than it can be restored. The cost of trying to mitigate cyber-attacks is enormous anyway; but trying to repair company image and gaining back the trust of your customers can also entail considerable expense and time. Implementing best practice incident management and business continuity planning can reduce the chances of a tainted company image in the first place.

Ensures regulatory compliance

Noncompliance with data regulations can be costly. While there is no single overarching cybersecurity law in the UK, there are laws imposing cybersecurity obligations that apply to all businesses falling within specific sectors. This can be confusing, but doing your research is crucial as the ramifications could be very damaging to your business.

Trust in your company goes up when you can prove the legitimacy of it. An easy (and, let’s be honest, an obvious) way of achieving this is by adhering to the laws that are applicable to your sector. Failure to do so, aside from diminishing trust in your company among potential customers, can result in penalties and fines.

You can focus on core business

By centralising your information security and compliance management in one place, your information security will no longer be dependent on just a few people, which can result in fewer risks and fewer key-person dependencies, thereby freeing up staff to focus more on the core business.

Around 65,000 attempts to hack small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) occur in the UK every day, around?4,500?of which are successful, according to a report by Hiscox.

Without the added worry of whether or not you have the appropriate processes in place to foil incoming cyberattacks, staff can focus more clearly on the core businesses.

Synergos Consultancy can help you attain ISO 27001 accreditation, and with so much value to be added to your business, why wait?

Get in touch today and one of our dedicated experts will guide you through the process!