ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties

Home / ISO 27001 Clauses / ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties

In this ultimate guide to ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties you will learn

  • What ISO 27001 interested parties are
  • How to identify them
  • Examples of interested parties and their requirements
  • An Implementation Checklist
  • An Audit Checklist

With over 30 years industry experience I will show you what’s new, give you ISO 27001 templates, show you examples, do a walkthrough and show you how to implement it for ISO 27001 certification.

I am Stuart Barker, the ISO 27001 Ninja and author of the Ultimate ISO 27001 Toolkit and this is ISO 27001 Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties explained simply.

What is ISO 27001 Clause 4.2?

ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties is an ISO 27001 clause that requires an organisation to understand who has an interest in the information security management system, what their requirements are and how those requirements are being met.

What are interested parties?

Essentially, this clause focuses on conducting a stakeholder analysis, a critical step in any information security management system (ISMS).

The objective is to identify individuals or entities who have an interest in the effectiveness of the ISMS.

These parties may have requirements for the ISMS to achieve specific goals or to function in a particular manner. By understanding their needs and expectations, organisations can demonstrate how the ISMS will meet these requirements. This aligns with the broader context of the organisation, as outlined in Clause 4.1, where internal and external issues were identified.

Clause 4.2 emphasises the importance of understanding interested parties. Notably, these parties and their requirements often remain consistent across different organisations. This allows for efficient implementation, as organisations can leverage pre-populated templates, minimising the effort required for this crucial analysis.

Purpose

The purpose of ISO 27001 clause 4.2 is to ensure you have considered people, their requirements and how you will address those requirements when implementing and operating your information security management system (ISMS).

Definition

The ISO 27001 standard defines ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 as:

The organisation shall determine:
a) interested parties that are relevant to the information security management system
b) the requirements of these interested parties
c) which of these requirements will be addressed through the information security management system.

ISO 27001:2022 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations Of Interested Parties

Ownership

The Information Security Officer is responsible for collaborating closely with the domain experts to identify and manage the needs and expectations of interested parties.

Implementation Guide

When implementing ISO 27001, to comply with ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties, you will need to identify and document your needs and expectations of interested parties that could potentially affect your information security management system and document them in a Context of Organisation document.

How to implement ISO 27001 Clause 4.2

To implement ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 follow the ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Implementation Checklist.

ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Implementation Checklist

How to audit ISO 27001 Clause 4.2

To perform an audit of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 follow the ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Audit Checklist.

ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Audit Checklist

Who are the ISO 27001 interested parties?

ISO 27001 Interested Parties are both internal and external to the organisation and their motivations can be both positive and negative. What we’re looking at is who might have an interest in our information security management system, who might have an interest in the outcomes of that management system and what are their interests? What is it that they want to see from it? What are their goals and objectives for it?

How To Identify Interested Parties

Interested parties is just another way of saying stakeholders. There are 2 ways to identify them:

Informal Approach

The first step is usually a brainstorming session with appropriately selected members and an optional facilitator.

Taking key individuals from the organisation based on their social, cultural and professional standing, all stakeholders are initially considered although possibly dropped as the process is refined. Where possible and appropriate the stakeholders are identified by name.

Formal Approach

The formal approach to identifying interested parties would be to conduct a traditional stakeholder analysis.

Example Interested Parties

Examples of interested parties include:

  • senior leadership
  • the board
  • shareholders
  • staff
  • clients
  • customers
  • competitors

ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Interested Parties and their requirements example:

Interested PartyRequirements Relevant to ISMS
Executive Board• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• Avoidance of data breach
• Avoidance of fines
• Commercial advantage for tender and sales
• To protect the company reputation
Shareholders• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• Avoidance of data breach
• Avoidance of fines
• Commercial advantage for tender and sales
• To protect the company reputation
Employees• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• To understand, implement and follow the governance framework.
• To be trained in the information security management system
• To have appropriate and adequate protection of employee and customer data
• To be able to conduct their role without undue bureaucracy.
• To work in a safe environment
Information Commissioner’s Office and Regulators• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
Law Enforcement Agencies• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• Timely co-operation on investigations
Customers• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• Products and services fit for purpose.
• Avoidance of data breach
Insurers• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• Current applicable contracts for products and services.
• Current applicable contracts covering an understanding of any information security requirements.
Local Residents• No negative or adverse impact from physical and environmental security

Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties

Once we have identified the interested parties, the next step is to identify and document their needs and expectations. The key is to do this from the perspective of the interested party, not ours.

How To Identify Needs and Expectations

Examples of how to identify the needs and expectations of interested parties include:

Interview

For the identified stakeholders and interested parties you could conduct an interview and ask them what their requirements are. Consider the following questions to help guide you:

  • What are your expectations of the information security management system?
  • How does an effective information security management system benefit you?
  • Are there other interested parties that may conflict with your interests?
  • What concerns do you have for the information security management system?

Needs and expectations of interested parties template

Using the ISO 27001 interested parties template that contains a list of common interested parties and their needs.

Example of the ISO 27001 Interested Parties Register:

ISO 27001 needs and expectations of interested parties template

Example Interested Parties Requirements

The common requirements that ISO 27001 Interested Parties have on an information security management system are that it:

  • meets our legal and regulatory requirements
  • avoids or contributes to the avoidance of a data breach
  • reduces our number of incidents
  • helps us to avoid Legal and Regulatory fines
  • gives us a commercial advantage for tenders
  • gives us a commercial advantage when it comes to sales
  • protects our company reputation
  • provides a work environment that is safe
  • allows people to conduct their role without undue bureaucracy
  • is providing us the ability to cooperate with external investigation if they come up in a timely and an efficient manner.

Watch the Tutorial

Watch the ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 tutorial How to implement ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties

How to pass the audit

To successfully pass an audit of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Interested Parties, a crucial step in achieving ISO 27001 Certification, you must ensure you have implemented the mandatory ISO 27001 documents and ISO 27001 polices. You are going to need to put in place ISO 27001 controls to:

  • Understand the requirements of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2
  • Identify your interested parties
  • Assess the needs and expectations of those interested parties
  • Document the interested parties in a Context of Organisation Document

What the auditor will check

The audit is going to check a number of areas for compliance with Clause 4.2 Interested Parties. Lets go through them

That you have documented interested parties

The simplest way to do this is with the fully populated ISO 27001 Context of Organisation Template.

That you have addressed their requirements

Be sure to record what requirements the interested parties have on the information security management system (ISMS).

Auditors like to able to see that you have identified requirements and can link them to the information security management system and demonstrate that you are addressing. The template does it for you but if you write yourself be sure that you can do this.

ISO 27001 Templates

The ISO 27001 Context Of Organisation template fully satisfies the requirements of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 and is pre written with common examples.

Available as individual download it is also part of the internationally best selling and award winning ISO 27001 Toolkit.

ISO 27001 Context of Organisation Template

DO IT YOURSELF ISO 27001

All the templates, tools, support and knowledge you need to do it yourself.

Mistakes People Make

In my experience, the top 3 mistakes people make for ISO 27001 clause 4.2 are

You have no evidence that anything actually happened

You need to keep records and minutes and documented evidence.

Recording the interested parties that apply and their requirements shows a thorough understand of the requirement and will avoid awkward questions.

Where an interested party and their requirement was identified you are not able to link this to the information security management system and how you address it.

Even if it is something you verbally explain be sure you can demonstrate this and you understand the linkage.

Your document and version control is wrong

Keeping your document version control up to date, making sure that version numbers match where used, having a review evidenced in the last 12 months, having documents that have no comments in are all good practices.

ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 FAQ

What / who are ISO 27001 Interested Parties?

Interested parties are people or entities that have an interest in how your informations security management system is built and operates. Their interests will shape how you build your management system, how you operate it and how you report on it. Examples of interested parties could include the Information Commissioner or equivalent who has an expectation that you are protecting personal information. Customer and clients may have an interest and very specific requirements on what they expect of you for information security. Internally the business owners and senior management may be interested in ensuring that the management system is efficient and does not harm profitability.

What are the ISO 27001:2022 Changes to Clause 4.2?

There is no real change to ISO 27001 clause 4.2 for the 2022 update. It has clarified that you will now determine which of the identified requirements will be addressed through the information security management system rather than implying it.

What are examples of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 interested parties requirements?

Examples of ISO 27001 interested parties requirements would include ensuring the information security management system is operating effectively and protecting the organisation from cyber attack and legal and regulatory breach. Specific customer examples may include how you store, process or transmit their specific information and the controls that you have in place around it. Commercial requirements will come from the organisation owners and senior management teams.

Do I need to formally record and approve the ISO 27001 interested parties and their requirements?

Yes. They should be documented, approved and minuted at a management review team meeting. As part of continual improvement this list will be reviewed and updated at least annually or as significant change occurs. Significant change usually means a new client requirement in the course of business.

Who is responsible for ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 interested parties?

Senior management are responsible for ensuring that ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 is implemented and maintained.

What are the benefits of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 interested parties?

Other than your ISO 27001 certification requiring it, the following are benefits of implementing ISO 27001 interested parties:
Improved security: You will have an effective information security management system that address people’s needs
Reduced risk: You will reduce the risk to your information security management system by identifying relevant people, their needs and addressing them
Improved compliance: Standards and regulations require context of organisation to be in place
Reputation Protection: In the event of a breach having effectively managed risks to the management system will reduce the potential for fines and reduce the PR impact of an event

Why is ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 interested parties important?

ISO 27001 interested parties is important because it allows you to understand what can impact your information security management system so you can address it. There are actually many people that require things from the management system. Usually that it is secure, meets laws and regulations and doesn’t lead to a data breach. But there are others. By understanding this allows to you to plan for them, mitigate and manage them and as a result increase in the effectiveness of the information security management system in meeting the business objectives and needs.

Further Reading

ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Implementation Checklist

ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Audit Checklist

ISO 27001 Interested Parties Explained