ISO 27001:2022 Annex A 5.8 for Tech Startups: Security by Design, Not by Accident

In the high-velocity world of tech startups, “Project Management” is often a dirty word. It sounds like Gantt charts, waterfall meetings, and people in suits slowing down the deployment pipeline. You prefer “Sprints,” “Epics,” and “CI/CD.”

So, when you see ISO 27001 Annex A 5.8: Information Security in Project Management, you might panic. You might think you need to hire a PRINCE2 certified manager to oversee your two-week sprints.

Relax. This control is not asking you to slow down. It is asking you to stop accumulating security debt. Just like technical debt, security debt accumulates when you build features fast without thinking about the consequences until it’s too late. Annex A 5.8 is simply the requirement to bake security into your build process, so you don’t have to rewrite your codebase three days before a product launch.

What is Annex A 5.8 Actually Asking For?

The standard requires that “Information security shall be integrated into project management.”

For a tech startup, this translates to Security by Design. It means that whether you are building a new microservice, migrating to a new cloud region, or even just switching your CRM provider, you must consider the security implications before you start execution.

It cuts the “We’ll secure it later” mentality out of your organization. Because as every engineer knows, “later” usually means “never” (or at least, not until after the data breach).

Translating “Project Management” to “Agile”

Most auditors understand that startups work differently from banks. You don’t have Project Initiation Documents (PIDs). You have Jira tickets. That is perfectly fine.

To implement Annex A 5.8 in an Agile environment, you simply map the requirements to your existing ceremonies:

• Project Initiation = Sprint Planning: When you scope a new Epic, ask: “Are there security risks here?”
• Requirements = User Stories: Add security constraints to your tickets. “As a user, I want to upload a file securely.”
• Execution = DevSecOps: Automated scanning and peer reviews during the build.
• Closure = Definition of Done: You can’t close the ticket until the security check passes.

Step 1: The “Security Triage” Phase

You cannot perform a deep security review on every single ticket; you would never ship anything. You need a triage process.

When a new major feature (Epic) enters the backlog, the Product Owner or Lead Dev should do a quick mental check:

1. Does this touch PII? (GDPR/Privacy risk)
2. Does this change authentication/authorization? (Access risk)
3. Does this involve a new third-party API? (Supply chain risk)

If the answer is “Yes,” tag the ticket with Security-Review-Required. This simple tag is your audit trail. It proves you are assessing risk early.

Step 2: Defining Security Requirements in Tickets

A developer cannot build a secure feature if they don’t know what “secure” means in that context. Annex A 5.8 requires you to define these objectives.

Don’t write “Make it secure.” That is too vague. Write actionable acceptance criteria:

• “API responses must not contain internal stack traces.”
• “Data at rest must be encrypted using AES-256.”
• “Inputs must be sanitized to prevent SQL injection.”

If you are struggling to standardize these requirements across your team, Hightable.io offers ISO 27001 toolkits for startups that include project security checklists. These templates act as a cheat sheet for Product Managers, ensuring they don’t forget standard requirements like logging or encryption.

Step 3: The “Definition of Done” (DoD)

This is your most powerful tool for Annex A 5.8. Your DoD is the gatekeeper. By adding a single bullet point to your DoD—“Security checks passed”—you formally integrate information security into every single “project” (ticket).

This ensures that no code goes to production without at least a basic security consideration. It stops the “rogue deploy.”

Step 4: Non-Technical Projects

Startups often forget that Annex A 5.8 applies to the whole business, not just Engineering.

Example: Moving Offices
If you move from a co-working space to your own office, that is a project. Security requirements include: “Do the doors lock?” “Where is the shredder?” “Is the Wi-Fi secure?”

Example: New HR Tool
Switching from spreadsheets to an HR platform is a project. Security requirements include: “Is it SOC 2 compliant?” “Does it support SSO?”

---

---

What Evidence Do You Show the Auditor?

When the auditor asks, “Show me evidence of Information Security in Project Management,” do not try to create a fake 50-page Project Charter. Show them your reality.

• Jira/Linear Screenshots: Show an Epic where a security risk was discussed in the comments.
• The Backlog: Show a ticket specifically created to fix a security debt (e.g., “Upgrade OpenSSL”).
• Meeting Notes: Show that “Security” is a standing agenda item in your monthly roadmap meeting.

Common Pitfalls for Startups

The “MVP” Trap
Founders love MVPs (Minimum Viable Products). Often, they strip out security to ship faster.
The Fix: Reframe security as part of viability. If your MVP leaks all your customer data, it wasn’t viable. It was a prototype. Annex A 5.8 requires you to acknowledge the risks you are taking, even for an MVP.

Reliance on “Rockstars”
“Dave is smart; he writes secure code.” That is not a process. If Dave leaves, your security leaves. You need documented checklists or automated scanners that work even when Dave is on holiday.

Conclusion

Implementing ISO 27001 Annex A 5.8 in a tech startup isn’t about bureaucracy; it’s about maturity. It marks the transition from “hacking it together” to “engineering a product.” By integrating simple security checks into your existing Agile ceremonies, you satisfy the standard and, more importantly, you build a product that customers can trust.

Start by updating your Definition of Done today. And if you need templates to help structure your security requirements without slowing down your sprints, checking out the resources at Hightable.io is a great next step.

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.