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Documented Information

13/09/2025

Author: Stuart Barker | ISO 27001 Expert and Thought Leader

Any information that an organisation needs to keep and control. It can be a paper document, an email, or a digital file. This information is key to showing that a business is following its rules and plans.

Examples

  • Policy: A company’s rulebook for using computers and the internet.
  • Procedure: A step-by-step guide on how to handle a customer’s personal data.
  • Record: A log of who accessed a secure server and when they did it.

Context

This term is central to ISO 27001. It means all the formal information you need to run your information security management system (ISMS). Documented information proves that you have plans, that you are following them, and that you are keeping records of your actions. It’s the proof that your security system is working as it should.

Relevant ISO 27001 Controls

The following controls from the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standard are related to documented information:

About the author

Stuart Barker is an information security practitioner of over 30 years. He holds an MSc in Software and Systems Security and an undergraduate degree in Software Engineering. He is an ISO 27001 expert and thought leader holding both ISO 27001 Lead Implementer and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor qualifications. In 2010 he started his first cyber security consulting business that he sold in 2018. He worked for over a decade for GE, leading a data governance team across Europe and since then has gone on to deliver hundreds of client engagements and audits.

He regularly mentors and trains professionals on information security and runs a successful ISO 27001 YouTube channel where he shows people how they can implement ISO 27001 themselves. He is passionate that knowledge should not be hoarded and brought to market the first of its kind online ISO 27001 store for all the tools and templates people need when they want to do it themselves.

In his personal life he is an active and a hobbyist kickboxer.

His specialisms are ISO 27001 and SOC 2 and his niche is start up and early stage business.