ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy: How to Write & Template

ISO 27001 Protection Against Malware and Antivirus Policy

In this guide, you will learn what an ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy is, how to write it yourself and I give you a template you can download and use right away.

What is malware?

Malware is malicious software created by cyber-criminals to harm or gain unauthorised access to computer systems, networks, or data. It includes viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, spyware, adware, and botnets.

Malware allows cyber-criminals to cause damage, steal information, disrupt systems, or demand ransom payments. It is commonly spread through infected files, downloads, compromised websites, or social engineering.

Protecting against malware requires using antivirus software, staying updated, educating users, and practicing safe browsing habits.

What is an ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy?

The ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy is a set of guidelines that organisations follow to protect their computer systems and data from malicious software.

How to write an ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy

ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy Template

The ISO 27001 Protection Against Malware and Antivirus Policy Template is pre written and ready to go. It is designed to save you over 8 hours of work. ISO 27001 templates are an absolute time and life saver.

ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy Example

Further Guidance

When writing a Protection Against Malware Policy from scratch, consider the following:

1. Policy statement and objectives: State the purpose and objectives of the policy, detailing the organisation’s commitment to safeguarding information assets from malware threats and defining the desired outcomes.
2. Scope and applicability: Define the policy’s scope, including the systems, devices, networks, and information assets it covers. Specify its applicability to all individuals, including employees, contractors, and third parties, who deal with the organisation’s information assets.
3. Roles and responsibilities: Outline the roles and responsibilities of the staff involved in implementing and managing the protection against malware measures. This covers IT administrators, security teams, end-users, and any other stakeholders.
4. Risk assessment and management: Conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to identify potential malware threats, vulnerabilities, and the impact they may have on information assets. Weigh up the likelihood and potential consequences of malware infections, and develop risk management strategies, including preventive measures and incident response procedures.
5. Preventive measures: Define the preventive measures to be implemented, such as deploying and regularly updating antivirus software, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and secure configurations. Address areas like software updates, patch management, secure software installation policies, and network segmentation to minimise the risk of malware infections.
6. Detection and monitoring: Outline the procedures for detecting and monitoring malware incidents, including regular scanning, log monitoring, anomaly detection, and leveraging threat intelligence feeds. State the frequency and scope of monitoring activities.
7. Incident response and recovery: Specify the procedures for responding to malware incidents, including incident reporting, analysis, containment, eradication, and recovery processes. Define the roles and responsibilities of incident response team members and establish effective communication channels during incidents.
8. User awareness and training: Stress the significance of user awareness and training programs in educating employees and stakeholders about malware risks and safe computing practices. Clarify the topics to be covered, such as recognising phishing emails, avoiding suspicious websites, and promptly reporting incidents.
9. Auditing and compliance: Describe the procedures for monitoring and auditing to assess the effectiveness of protection against malware controls. Set up processes for conducting regular audits, vulnerability assessments, and compliance checks. Identify the responsible parties and arrange an audit schedule.
10. Policy communication and review: Explain how the policy will be communicated to employees, contractors, and other stakeholders. Outline the methods for policy distribution, training, and ensuring comprehension of the policy’s contents. Implement a review process to regularly assess the policy’s effectiveness and make necessary updates.

If all of this sounds like a lot of effort just to write one ISO 27001 policy, save hours of your time by downloading the ISO 27001 Protection Against Malware and Antivirus Policy Template

How to implement effective ISO 27001 malware protection

1. Have a topic specific policy

A topic specific policy for protection against malware is a requirement of the standard as well as best practice. It will set out the guidelines for the organisation and your approach. You can save hours of time and effort, simply by using this ISO 27001 Protection Against Malware and Antivirus Policy Template or you can write it yourself. If you just love doing things the hard way then keep reading for How to write a Protection Against Malware Policy.

2. Install antivirus software

Antivirus software is in the top 3 essentials of cyber security and defence. Whether it is a dedicated off the self package or built into your operating system you want antivirus on every device that processes, stores or transmits data – where possible. It is not enough to have installed, it needs to be running and needs to be up to date with the latest virus definition files.

3. Prevent staff downloading stuff

Staff downloading software and stuff they should not is a massive risk to introducing ransomware an and viruses into your organisation. Where practical to do so you should consider a combination of controls. Those controls will include the policy, training, awareness and technical controls to prevent software being installed.

4. Patch your IT equipment

Another of the top 3 essentials for cyber security and defence. Software on systems is updated regularly by the vendors to address bugs and security flaws. It is imperative that you keep systems up to date with the latest patches as these exploits, if left unchecked, are low hanging fruit for cyber hackers.

5. Control external storage media

There are few occasions now where we need to plug in USB sticks or external media but it does happen. Be sure to have controls in place as to what can and cannot be connected and now these devices are handled, checked and managed.

6. Turn on your firewall

Either at the organisation level or locally the firewall is a breaker between you and the outside world and very much like a front door on a house is designed to prevent the wrong people gaining access. You will have policy and controls for firewalls so as not to leave that front door wide open.

ISO 27001 Malware and Antivirus Policy FAQ