If you run a tech startup, the term “Threat Intelligence” probably conjures images of massive Situation Rooms with wall-to-wall screens and a team of analysts shouting about “state-sponsored actors.” It feels expensive. It feels like enterprise bloat.
But here is the reality: ISO 27001 Annex A 5.7 isn’t asking you to be the NSA. It is simply asking you to stop flying blind.
For a startup, Threat Intelligence is about answering one question: “What is out there that could kill us, and how do we stop it before it does?” Whether it’s a new vulnerability in a library you use (hello, Log4j) or a phishing campaign targeting SaaS founders, Annex A 5.7 is the radar system that keeps your ship safe.
Table of contents
What is Annex A 5.7 Actually Asking For?
The standard requires you to collect and analyze information about information security threats to produce threat intelligence. That sounds formal, but let’s break it down into startup speak:
- Collection: Where do you get your news?
- Analysis: Does this news matter to our tech stack?
- Action: What are we going to do about it?
The goal is to shift your security posture from Reactive (fixing things after they break) to Proactive (fixing things because you know breakers are coming).
Why This Matters for Startups (Beyond Compliance)
You might think, “I’m too small to be a target.” That is a dangerous myth. Bots don’t care about your valuation; they care about your open ports and unpatched dependencies.
Implementing Annex A 5.7 protects your runway. A single ransomware attack or a data breach caused by a known vulnerability can end a startup overnight. By implementing this control, you are essentially buying insurance that pays out in “uptime” and “customer trust.”
Step 1: Curate Your Sources (The Input)
You don’t need expensive subscription feeds. The best intelligence for a tech startup is often free, provided you know where to look. You need to gather intelligence from three layers:
1. Strategic Intelligence (The Big Picture)
This is high-level info about trends. Are attackers targeting Fintechs? Is there a rise in supply chain attacks?
Sources: CISA alerts, ENISA reports, or reputable security blogs.
2. Tactical Intelligence (The “How”)
This covers the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) attackers use.
Sources: MITRE ATT&CK framework, OWASP Top 10.
3. Operational Intelligence (The Specifics)
This is the most critical layer for your dev team. It involves specific indicators of compromise (IoCs) and vulnerabilities.
Sources: GitHub Dependabot alerts, AWS/Azure Security Bulletins, Vendor mailing lists for your specific stack (e.g., Node.js security releases).
Step 2: Filter the Noise (The Processing)
The biggest mistake startups make is drinking from the firehose. If you forward every single CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) alert to your CTO, they will mute you.
Context is King.
If you receive an alert about a critical vulnerability in “Oracle WebLogic” but you run entirely on a serverless AWS stack, that intelligence is useless to you. Discard it. Annex A 5.7 is as much about ignoring irrelevant threats as it is about acting on real ones.
Implementation Tip: Assign an “Intel Owner.” This doesn’t need to be a full-time role. It can be a Senior Engineer who spends 30 minutes a week reviewing aggregated alerts to see what applies to your environment.
Step 3: From Intel to Action (The Output)
This is where you pass the audit. An auditor doesn’t want to see a folder full of unread PDFs. They want to see a ticket.
The Ideal Workflow:
- Trigger: You receive an alert from GitHub about a vulnerability in a package.
- Analysis: The Lead Dev confirms, “Yes, we use that package in production.”
- Action: A Jira/Linear ticket is created: “Patch dependency XYZ due to Critical CVE.”
- Resolution: The PR is merged, and the ticket is closed.
That Jira ticket is your evidence. It proves you gathered intel, analyzed it, and acted on it.
Step 4: Documenting Your Process
You need to formalize this slightly to satisfy ISO 27001. You don’t need a 50-page thesis, but you do need a procedure that says:
- Who is responsible for gathering intel.
- Where the intel comes from (your list of sources).
- How it is communicated to the team.
If you are struggling to structure this documentation or don’t know which sources to list, Hightable.io offers specialized ISO 27001 toolkits. Their templates include pre-built Threat Intelligence registers and procedures that are tailored for agile companies, saving you hours of formatting and guesswork.
DO IT YOURSELF
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Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Confusing A 5.7 with A 5.6:
Annex A 5.6 is about talking to groups. Annex A 5.7 is about analyzing the data you get from them. They are cousins, but distinct controls.
“Set and Forget”:
Signing up for a newsletter is not compliance. If you can’t show evidence that you reviewed the intel (even a simple slack emoji reaction or meeting minute), the control is not effective.
Conclusion
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.7 is your startup’s nervous system. It connects the outside world’s dangers to your internal defense mechanisms. By curating the right sources, filtering out the noise, and integrating the findings into your development lifecycle, you turn Threat Intelligence from a buzzword into a competitive advantage.
Start small. Pick 3 relevant sources, assign an owner, and start creating tickets. And if you need a head start on the paperwork, check out the resources at Hightable.io to get audit-ready fast.
About the author
Stuart Barker is a veteran practitioner with over 30 years of experience in systems security and risk management.
Holding an MSc in Software and Systems Security, Stuart combines academic rigor with extensive operational experience. His background includes over a decade leading Data Governance for General Electric (GE) across Europe, as well as founding and exiting a successful cyber security consultancy.
As a qualified ISO 27001 Lead Auditor and Lead Implementer, Stuart possesses distinct insight into the specific evidence standards required by certification bodies. He has successfully guided hundreds of organizations – from high-growth technology startups to enterprise financial institutions – through the audit lifecycle.
His toolkits represents the distillation of that field experience into a standardised framework. They move beyond theoretical compliance, providing a pragmatic, auditor-verified methodology designed to satisfy ISO/IEC 27001:2022 while minimising operational friction.
