If you’re in the world of AI, you know how crucial it is to protect your data and build trust with your customers. You might have heard of ISO 27001, but what is it, and why does it matter to you? This guide breaks it all down in a simple, easy-to-understand way. Let’s dive in!
Table of contents
- What’s ISO 27001?
- Who can use this standard?
- Why is ISO 27001 important for AI companies?
- When should AI companies get started?
- How can the ISO 27001 toolkit help AI companies?
- How do AI companies actually get ISO 27001 certified?
- How does ISO 27001 help with AI-Specific Laws?
- Which other standards, laws and regulations need it?
- ISO 27001 for AI Companies FAQ
What’s ISO 27001?
Think of ISO 27001 as a gold standard for managing information security. It’s an internationally recognized framework that helps you set up a system to keep sensitive data safe. This isn’t just about protecting your servers; it’s about managing risks and ensuring all your information—whether it’s on a computer, in a notebook, or even in someone’s head—is secure.
Who can use this standard?
- Small Businesses: Even if you’re a small team, you can show partners and clients you take security seriously. It helps you build a strong foundation right from the start.
- Tech Startups: As you grow and handle more data, ISO 27001 helps you manage that growth securely. It’s a huge plus when you’re pitching to investors or large clients.
- AI Companies: You’re dealing with vast amounts of data, from training models to personal information. ISO 27001 is perfect for creating a robust system to protect all that valuable data, making you a trustworthy partner in a very competitive field.
Why is ISO 27001 important for AI companies?
ISO 27001 is a big deal for AI companies because it helps you protect your most important assets. It gives you a clear plan to manage and secure your data and AI models. This matters a lot because your company’s value is tied to the information you have.
Protect Your Data and Ideas
Your AI company relies on massive amounts of data and the unique algorithms you create. Losing this data or having your models stolen would be a disaster. ISO 27001 helps you create a system to keep your data safe from hackers and to prevent your valuable ideas from being stolen. It makes sure you have clear rules for who can access what and how information is handled from the start.
Build Trust with Customers and Partners
When you have an ISO 27001 certification, you show clients that you take security seriously. Many big companies now require their partners to have this certification. Getting certified can help you win new business and build strong, trusting relationships. It’s a way of proving you’re a responsible company that will protect their data.
Follow the Rules
Many countries have strict laws about data privacy, like Europe’s GDPR. Since AI systems often use personal information, you must follow these rules. ISO 27001 helps you meet these legal requirements by making you identify and address all the laws that apply to your business. This helps you avoid big fines and legal trouble.
Be Ready for Anything
No company is safe from security threats. An ISO 27001 system helps you plan for the worst. It requires you to have a solid plan for what to do if there’s a security incident, like a data breach. This makes it easier for you to respond quickly and minimise any damage, which can save your business from a major setback.
When should AI companies get started?
You should start your ISO 27001 journey as soon as possible, ideally in the early stages of your AI company. Beginning early helps you embed security into your processes from the start, rather than trying to add it later. This is often called security by design.
Why ISO 27001 Early Is Best
Starting early helps you build a strong foundation. It’s easier to create secure systems and processes from the ground up than to fix them later. Think of it like building a house: it’s better to put in a strong foundation at the beginning than to try and fix a shaky one after the walls are up.
Early adoption also shows your commitment to security and privacy. This can be a major selling point for clients and partners, especially those in highly regulated industries. They want to know their data is safe, and an ISO 27001 certification proves you take that seriously.
How to Get Started
You can start by doing a few simple things. First, learn about the ISO 27001 standard. Then, identify the key risks to your company’s data and AI models. This initial step helps you understand where you need to focus your efforts.
Next, create a simple plan. This plan should include what security measures you’ll put in place and who will be responsible for them. Don’t worry about being perfect right away. The goal is to start, and then improve over time. A small, early start is better than waiting until you’re a bigger company with more to lose.
You don’t have to wait until you’re a big company. The best time to start thinking about ISO 27001 is early on, especially if you handle sensitive data. It’s much easier to build good security habits from the beginning than to try and fix problems later. If you’re bidding on a contract where security is a key requirement, having this certification can be a game-changer.
How can the ISO 27001 toolkit help AI companies?
You don’t have to start from scratch! Many resources, like the ISO 27001 toolkit, are available. These toolkits provide pre-written policies, procedures, and templates that make the process of getting certified much easier. They can save you a ton of time and help you make sure you’ve covered all the bases.
How do AI companies actually get ISO 27001 certified?
The process is similar to that of other companies, but with a special focus on risks related to AI. Here are the steps for an AI company to get ISO 27001 certified.
1. Planning and Scoping
First, you need to define the scope of your Information Security Management System (ISMS). This means deciding which parts of your company will be covered by the ISO 27001 certification. For an AI company, this might include your data science team, the data you use for training, and your cloud infrastructure. You also need to get everyone on board, especially top management, who must show they are committed to the process.
2. Risk Assessment and Treatment
This is a key step. You must identify all possible threats to your information assets. For an AI company, this includes risks like data poisoning, where bad data is fed into your model to make it behave incorrectly, or model inversion, where someone tries to figure out your training data from your model’s outputs. You’ll then create a plan to either reduce, accept, avoid, or transfer these risks.
3. Creating a Statement of Applicability
After you’ve looked at your risks, you’ll create a document called the Statement of Applicability (SoA). This document lists which of the 93 security controls from Annex A of ISO 27001 you will use. For each control, you must explain why you chose to use it or why you didn’t. This shows that you have carefully thought about your security needs.
4. Implementation
Now you’ll put your security plan into action. This involves writing new policies, training your staff, and setting up the security tools you need. For an AI company, this could mean creating rules for how to handle sensitive data, making sure your models are secure, and putting in place strict access controls so only the right people can see certain information.
5. Internal Audit
Before your official audit, you’ll perform a review of your own. An internal audit checks if your ISMS is working as it should. It is a good way to find and fix any weak spots before the official certification body comes to inspect your system.
6. External Certification Audit
This is the official part of the process. An outside group, called a certification body, will do a two-stage audit.
- Stage 1 is a desk review. The auditors will check your documents, like your risk assessment and your Statement of Applicability. They want to see if your plan meets the ISO 27001 standard.
- Stage 2 is a detailed check. The auditors will come to your office (or do it online) to make sure you are following your own security policies. They’ll talk to your staff and check your systems to see if your security controls are in place and working properly.
How does ISO 27001 help with AI-Specific Laws?
ISO 27001 is a great tool for helping your company meet the requirements of various AI laws and regulations. While it doesn’t cover every specific rule, its focus on information security provides a strong foundation. You can use this certification to show that you’re serious about protecting data, which is a major part of many laws.
Data Privacy Regulations
The biggest way ISO 27001 helps is with data privacy laws. AI systems often use huge amounts of data, so being able to show you protect it is vital.
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): This law is all about protecting personal data in the EU. ISO 27001 helps you with key parts of GDPR, like having good security controls, managing data properly, and quickly responding to data breaches. The ISO/IEC 27701 standard, which is an extension of ISO 27001, is specifically for privacy management.
- CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act): This law gives California residents more control over their personal information. ISO 27001’s rules about access control and risk management help you protect this data and show that you’re taking the right steps to be compliant.
AI-Specific Laws
Some new laws are just for AI. ISO 27001 can help you get ready for these, too.
- EU AI Act: This is a big one. It’s the first broad law for AI. The EU AI Act requires you to do things like manage risks, document your AI systems, and make sure they are transparent and secure. ISO 27001’s focus on risk management and documentation is a perfect fit for these needs. It gives you a system for identifying and handling the unique risks that come with AI, such as bias in data or attacks on your models.
- Proposed Laws: Other countries, like Canada with its proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), are also working on AI laws. These new laws are likely to have similar rules about risk, data, and security. Because ISO 27001 gives you a flexible system to manage information security, you can easily adapt to these new rules as they appear.
By getting ISO 27001 certified, you’re not just following a single law. You’re building a solid security system that helps you meet many different legal requirements for data and AI. This can save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.
Which other standards, laws and regulations need it?
The ISO 27001 standard is a core part of standards, laws and regulations such as:
- CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act)
- DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)
- NIS2 (Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive)
- SOC 2 (Service Organisation Control 2)
- NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
ISO 27001 for AI Companies FAQ
ISO/IEC 27001 is the international standard for an Information Security Management System (ISMS). For AI companies, it’s crucial because it provides a systematic approach to managing sensitive data, intellectual property (IP), and the unique vulnerabilities associated with AI and machine learning (ML) models. It helps protect against data breaches, adversarial attacks, and other threats.
The ISO 27001 framework is risk-based, meaning you must identify and treat all relevant information security risks. For an AI company, this includes risks like data poisoning, model inversion, and bias in training data. The standard’s core principles and controls, while not AI-specific, can be applied to address these threats.
An ISMS is a set of policies, procedures, and controls for managing an organization’s information security. For an AI company, this system would cover the entire AI lifecycle, from data collection and model training to deployment and maintenance. It includes things like secure coding policies for ML engineers, access controls for training data, and a plan for responding to AI-related security incidents.
While there isn’t a widely adopted standard solely for AI security, ISO/IEC 42001 provides a management system for AI. However, ISO 27001 is the foundational standard for information security and is highly recommended as a starting point. It’s often used in conjunction with other standards and regulations like GDPR.
ISO 27001 requires controls for protecting information assets, which includes your proprietary AI models, algorithms, and training data. It mandates security measures like access controls to model repositories, encryption of sensitive data, and secure development practices to prevent IP theft.
ISO 27001 is a great enabler for complying with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. It requires you to identify and meet legal and contractual obligations, which is particularly important for AI systems that often handle large volumes of personal data. The standard’s focus on data protection, access control, and incident management aligns directly with privacy requirements.
Annex A is a list of 93 recommended security controls in the ISO 27001:2022 standard. An AI company would select and customize these controls to address its specific risks. For example, the “secure development” control would be interpreted to include specific AI-related secure coding practices.
The risk assessment process involves identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities to your information assets. For an AI company, this means considering threats like adversarial attacks on your models, unauthorized access to training data, or the unintentional release of sensitive information through model outputs. The assessment helps you prioritize which risks to address first.
The Statement of Applicability (SoA) is a mandatory document that lists which of the Annex A controls you’ve chosen to implement and why. For an AI company, this document would justify the inclusion of controls to mitigate risks like data bias, model integrity, and other AI-specific concerns.
Yes, absolutely! AI and machine learning tools can streamline many aspects of ISO 27001 compliance. For example, they can automate risk assessments, continuously monitor for threats, and generate compliance reports, saving time and resources. This is a common and recommended practice.
Some AI models are difficult to interpret (“black boxes”). While ISO 27001 doesn’t solve this directly, it requires organizations to establish a governance framework that ensures accountability and transparency. This includes implementing controls for monitoring AI behavior, documenting model decisions, and auditing for bias to ensure your systems are verifiable and secure.
No, it does not. ISO 27001 provides a robust framework to manage and reduce risks, but it’s not a silver bullet against every possible attack. It’s a continuous process of improvement and requires an organization to be proactive in identifying and responding to emerging threats.
Many AI companies rely on third-party data providers, cloud services, and open-source models. ISO 27001 requires you to manage these relationships securely by assessing the security of your suppliers and ensuring their practices align with your own. This is vital to prevent vulnerabilities in your supply chain.
The time it takes varies, but a well-managed project can take 3 to 6 months. Key factors include the size of your company, the complexity of your AI systems, and your organization’s current security maturity. The process involves multiple stages, including a risk assessment, implementation of controls, and a two-stage external audit.
Certification provides a clear competitive advantage by building trust with clients, partners, and investors. It helps you protect sensitive data, meet regulatory requirements, and demonstrate a commitment to security. It can also improve internal processes, reduce the likelihood and cost of data breaches, and provide a strong foundation for future growth.
It shouldn’t! In fact, building security into your development process from the beginning can make things faster and smoother in the long run.
You can do it yourself, but many companies find it helpful to hire a consultant. They can guide you through the process and make sure you don’t miss anything.
The biggest benefit is trust. In a field that handles sensitive data, showing you have a robust security system helps you win new business and keep the trust of your customers.
Ready to start your ISO 27001 journey? It might seem like a lot, but it’s a smart investment in your company’s future and a powerful way to show the world you take security seriously. Good luck!
