ISO 27001 Competence

I am going to show you what ISO 27001 Clause 7.2 Competence is, what’s new, give you ISO 27001 templates, an ISO 27001 toolkit, show you examples, do a walkthrough and show you how to implement it.

I am Stuart Barker the ISO 27001 Ninja and using over two decades of experience on hundreds of ISO 27001 audits and ISO 27001 certifications I show you exactly what changed in the ISO 27001:2022 update and exactly what you need to do for ISO 27001 certification.

What is ISO27001 Clause 7.2 Competence?

The ISO27001 standard requires an organisation to have people that are competent to do the work for information security.

This clause is all about people and their skills, experience and competency.

The ISO27001 standard for ISO27001 certification wants you to have the right people with the right skills for running ISO27001. It is one of the ISO27001 controls.

There are distinct phases in the process of ISO27001 certification. Each of those phases potentially requires a different level of skill, knowledge and experience. It is possible that this is one person but the likelihood is you are going to get specialist help for the establishment and implementation phase. It can make sense to reduce the reliance on that specialist help when it comes to maintenance and continual improvement. Only using that knowledge and expertise for training and sense checking.

Definition

The requirement for ISO27001 Competence far out reaches just information security. The organisation as a whole has departments that contribute to the success of the organisation that also play into an effective information security management system. We can consider HR, legal and regulatory compliance, commercial, and Information Technology (IT) teams.

The ISO27001 Standard defines clause 7.2 as:

The organisation shall:

a) determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its control that affects its information security performance;
b) ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training, or experience;
c) where applicable, take actions to acquire the necessary competence, and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken; and
d) retain appropriate documented information as evidence of competence.

ISO27001 Clause 7.2 Competence

What are the ISO27001:2022 Changes to Clause 7.2?

Great news. There are no changes to ISO27001 Clause 7.2 in the 2022 update.

How To Comply

Our guide would be

ISO27001 Establishment: use specialist resource

ISO27001 Implementation: use specialist resource

ISO27001 Certification: use specialist resource in combination with your own staff

ISO27001 Maintenance: use your own staff with training and sense checking by specialist resource

ISO27001 Continual Improvement: use your own staff with training and sense checking by specialist resource

Of course you can do ALL of it with the ISO27001 Toolkit which includes all of the resources, step by step guides and video walkthroughs you will need with the ability to by specialist help by the hour.

Time needed: 1 day

How to comply with ISO27001 Clause 7.2 Competence

  1. Engage with trained ISO27001 resources

    Whether you look to engage a professional such as a High Table ISO27001 Consultant, hire someone full-time or train up internal staff on ISO27001 lead auditor or ISO27001 lead implementor courses you need to engage with trained and experienced resource for your ISO27001 certification.

  2. Complete an accountability matrix

    For each of the ISO27001 clauses AND the ISO27001 Annex A / ISO27002 clauses you need to allocate and record who is responsible for that clause and control.

  3. Complete a competency matrix

    For each person involved in the operation of the Information Security Management System be sure to record them in them in the competency matrix. The competency matrix allows you to identify and demonstrate that you have the required competencies to run the information security management system. It also identifies gaps that you can plan to address.

  4. Implement training and awareness

    Implement and effective process of training and awareness that directly meets the needs of the organisation and the risk the organisation faces.

Implementation Guide 

ISO27001 training can help you gain the skills and experience in house and is an option to consider.

ISO27001 lead auditor training, ISO27001 lead implementor training and associated courses are readily available to choose from. For book knowledge to the standard these are an ideal starting point. It can be problematic when it comes to actually applying the learnings though as they tend to focus heavily on the semantics of the standard rather than real world implementation and they will not cover your particular implementation.

Will they tick the box when it comes to the ISO27001 certification? If you haven’t got specialist outside help then yes, they most definitely will.

There is a wealth of training and guidance provided as part of the ISO27001 Toolkit for free. There are also free resources on the Internet such as this excellent YouTube Channel dedicated to ISO27001 and showing you how to do it yourself. If we were going to start anywhere we would start with this Essential Step By Step Guide to Implementing ISO27001.

How do you demonstrate compliance to ISO27001 clause 7.2?

To comply with ISO27001 Clause 7.2 require you need to document, record and evidence competence. But in what? And how?

The most straightforward way is to create a competency matrix, populate it and keep it up to date.

We provide an excellent overview of the competency matrix and how to create one as well as a video guide in our blog: ISO27001 Competence Matrix Ultimate Guide with Template

There is no set level to what level of competence that you require. It is dependant on the needs of the business. You can easily argue what ever level you decide based on the fact that you have risk assessed it and determined it based on risk and business need.

Of course the simplest way is to demonstrate training and certifications for staff.

If this is cost prohibitive then the use of outsourced third parties can also be an answer.

Depending on the size of the business it is unlikely you will have in house legal counsel. So how do you demonstrate that you have competence? Well you probably outsource your legal requirements to a third party law firm. As long as you have a contract and can evidence it then you can demonstrate your competence compliance by simply outsourcing the function. GDPR and Data Protection outside of your grasp for a full time employee? Of course it is. So outsource it and engage a third party company, have a contract in place and record that in your competency matrix.

It isn’t complicated or hard and it doesn’t have to be costly.

How to build your own competence matrix

This particular video on How to Build a Competency Matrix has been viewed over 10,000 times and in it we show you how to build the competency matrix from scratch if you don’t want to download and use the ISO27001 Competence Matrix Template.

ISO27001 Templates

ISO27001 templates are a great way to implement your information security management system. Whilst an ISO27001 Toolkit can save you up to 30x in consulting fees and allow you to deliver up to 10x faster these individual templates help meet the specific requirements of ISO27001 clause 7.2

ISO 27001 Competency Matrix Template
ISO 27001 ISMS Rasci Matrix Template
ISO 27001 Training and Awareness Policy Template

DO IT YOURSELF ISO27001

STOP SPANKING £10,000s

ISO 27001 Toolkit

FAQ

What is ISO27001 Clause 7.2 Competence ?

The ISO27001 standard requires an organisation to have people that are competent to do the work for information security. Simple.

How do I evidence I meet the requirement of ISO27001 Clause 7.2?

The best way is to record the skills of your resources in a Competency Matrix.

Can you show me how to build an ISO27001 competence matrix?

Yes, in this video we show you step by step how to build your own ISO27001 competence matrix from scratch in around 15 minutes: https://youtu.be/sAn2ffkrBe4

Where can I download ISO27001 Clause 7.2 templates?

You can download ISO27001 Clause 7.2 templates in the ISO27001 Toolkit.

ISO27001 Clause 7.2 example?

An example of ISO27001 Clause 7.2 can be found in the ISO27001 Toolkit.

Can I use external resource for ISO27001 Clause 7.2?

Yes. Many companies seek the help of qualified, experienced third party suppliers to help with ISO27001

Can I train my staff to meet the requirements of ISO27001 Clause 7.2?

Yes, there are many reputable training courses for ISO27001 Lead Auditor and ISO27001 Lead Implementor.