ISO 27001 A.5.12: classifying information, explained for startups

A.5.12 Classification of information

Information is sorted by how sensitive it is. What proves it: classification levels for your information and the rules for each level.

A certification auditor samples the classification scheme and examples of classified data. A file that usually does the job: the classification section of your asset management policy, with customer data marked Confidential.

How to put it in place

Each step leaves a record, and the record is what the auditor samples rather than the step itself. Inside Polara, the control card for A.5.12 walks you through it in this order.

1. Use three or four levels, for example Public, Internal and Confidential.
2. Say where customer data sits and what each level means for sharing and storage.
3. Approve it in the asset management policy.

The free ISO 27001 readiness assessment asks one question that evidences it:

• Do you have information classification levels, with handling rules for each level?

Policies, connectors and the SOC 2 overlap

In the ISO 27001 policy pack, the Asset Management and Information Classification Policy covers A.5.12. An auditor reads the policy for the rule, then samples the records to see the rule was followed.

The same evidence counts toward SOC 2. The Trust Services criterion that cover this ground: CC6.1, logical access.

Organizational controls

A.5.12 is one of the 37 organizational controls in Annex A. How the company runs security: policies, roles, suppliers, incidents, continuity and legal duties. Most of these are written decisions and the records that show you follow them.

Nearby controls in the same theme:

• A.5.9, asset inventory
• A.5.10, acceptable use
• A.5.11, returning assets
• A.5.13, labeling information
• A.5.14, sending information out
• A.5.15, access control rules

Before it: A.5.11, returning assets. After it: A.5.13, labeling information. Every control, by theme, is on the Annex A controls page.