ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements Beginner’s Guide

ISO27002: 2022 Clause 5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements

In this article I lay bare ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 / ISO27002: 2022 Clause 5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements

A beginners guide to addressing information security within supplier agreements, exposing the insider trade secrets, giving you the templates that will save you hours of your life and showing you exactly what you need to do to satisfy it for ISO27001 certification. We show you exactly what changed in the ISO27001:2022 update. I am Stuart Barker the ISO27001 Ninja and this is ISO27001 Annex A 5.20

What is ISO27001 Annex A 5.20?

ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements is an ISO27002: 2022 control that requires an organisation to establish and agree information security requirements with suppliers.

It is about having a legal mechanism in place. A contract or an agreement or terms of business.

Suppliers represent one of your biggest risks as you cannot directly manage them or influence them and it is likely you rely on them, they have your data and provide services that you need to be successful.

ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Definition

The ISO27001 standard defines ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements as:

Relevant information security requirements should be established and agreed with each supplier based on the type of supplier relationship.

ISO27001 Annex A 5.20

ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Implementation Guide

We are going to rely on a couple of mechanism to ensure Information Security In Supplier Relationships.

Supplier Agreements / Contracts

The number one recommendation is to seek professional legal counsel for the provision of all contracts. The following is guidance but you should always defer to professional legal counsel. Always. You are not a lawyer. We are not a lawyer.

Our first line of defence and go to is the supplier agreement or supplier contract. At its core it is a legal mechanism that is legally binding and provides the greatest level of overall protection.

• It sets out what is required, what will be done, who will do it, what happens if things go wrong.
• What information is to be provided, accessed and the methods of access.
• Legal, regulatory and contractual requirements. Elements such as intellectual property rights, copyright information, data protection requirements.
• The controls and levels of controls that are required by both parties to the agreement.
• Acceptable and unacceptable use of assets.
• How to grant and remove access
• Penalities, indemnities and remediation for failings to meet the contract.
• Contact information
• Screening requirements for staff were legally enforceable.
• How evidence and assurance of information security will be provided
• Rights to audit
• How to solve problems or conflicts with the contract
• Appropriate back up, business continuity and disaster recovery
• The process for change management
• Physical security as appropriate
• Information transfer processes
• Termination clauses and processes
• Destruction and removal of data processes
• Handover at the end of the contract

Contracts are kept and recorded in the Third Party Supplier Register. They are reviewed at least annually, based on risk and significant change or event.

ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Templates

If you want to write these yourself I totally commend you. And pity you in equal measure. You could save months of effort with these templates that take 25 years of experience and distil it in a pack of prewritten best practice awesomeness.

How to comply with ISO27001 Annex A 5.20

To comply with ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 you are going to implement the ‘how’ to the ‘what’ the control is expecting. In short measure you are going to

• Implement a topic specific policy
• Implement an supplier management process
• Implement a third party supplier register
• Have agreements with all suppliers that cover information security requirements

How to pass an audit of ISO27001 Annex A 5.20

To pass an audit of ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 you are going to make sure that you have followed the steps above in how to comply.

You are going to do that by first conducting an internal audit, following the How to Conduct an ISO27001 Internal Audit Guide.

What will an audit check?

The audit is going to check a number of areas. Lets go through the most common

#1 That you have a supplier agreements in place

The auditor is going to check that you have agreements in place with suppliers that cover the information security requriements. It will check that those agreements are in date and cover the products and / or services acquired.

#2 That you have an ISO27001 Supplier Register

You will need an ISO27001 Supplier Register to record and manage your suppliers. Make sure it is up to date and reflects your reality.

#3 Documentation

They are going to look at audit trails and all your documentation and see that is classified and labelled. All the documents that you show them, as a minimum if they are confidential should be labelled as such. Is the document up to date. Has it been reviewed in the last 12 months. Does the version control match.

Top 3 Annex ISO27001 A 5.20 Mistakes People Make

The top 3 Mistakes People Make For ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 are

#1 You have no contracts or legal terms with a supplier

Make sure that there is a contract, agreement, terms of business or some legal mechanism for engaging with suppliers and you have a copy, it is in date and covers what you are using.

#2 You have no assurance they are doing the right thing for information security

Make sure you have done your security assessment and can place your hands on an in date certificate such as an ISO27001 Certification for assurance they are doing the right thing. It needs to be in date a cover the products and / or services you have aquired and are using form the supplier.

#3 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.

Why is ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Important?

ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements is important because suppliers represent the biggest risk to you. If they are not doing the right thing it is your reputation, your finances, your success that is stake. Get supplier management correct and reduce the risk.

ISO27001 Annex A 5.20 FAQ

Matrix of controls and attribute values

Control type	Information security properties	Cybersecurity concepts	Operational capabilities	Security domains
#Preventive	#Confidentiality #Integrity #Availability	#Identify	#Supplier_relationships_security	#Protection #Governance_and_ecosystem

See Also

• Guaranteed ISO27001 Certification up to 10x Faster and 30x Cheaper
• The Ultimate ISO27001 TOOLKIT so you can do it yourself 
• ISO27001 Exposed: The facts you must know (Not knowing these could cost you $10,000s!) 
• 25 Things You Must Know Before Going for ISO27001 Certification (Number 3 will blow your mind!)
• The Ultimate Reference Guide to ISO27001 Controls

Reference

ISO/IEC 27001 Information Security Management