ISO 27001 A.5.19: supplier security, explained for startups
What A.5.19 asks of a small company, and what an auditor samples.
Understand the security risks that come with using vendors and partners, and manage them. Set expectations for how suppliers protect your data.
Why it exists: to avoid relying on suppliers that would put its information at risk.
A.5.19 Information security in supplier relationships
You check suppliers for security before you rely on them. What proves it: a register of the suppliers that touch your data or systems, with the security check done for each.
A certification auditor samples the supplier register with risk ratings. A file that usually does the job: a supplier register listing each supplier, what it can reach, its risk tier and the assurance you obtained.
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.5.19 walks you through it in this order.
- List every supplier that touches your data or systems.
- Rate each by what it can reach, and collect a security report or written answers from the high risk ones.
- Review the register once a year.
The free ISO 27001 readiness assessment asks one question that evidences it:
- How do you manage the suppliers and cloud services that handle your data?
Policies, connectors and the SOC 2 overlap
In the ISO 27001 policy pack, the Supplier and Cloud Service Security Policy covers A.5.19. 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: CC9.2, vendor risk.
Organizational controls
A.5.19 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.5.16, identities and accounts
- A.5.17, passwords and secrets
- A.5.18, granting and removing access
- A.5.20, security in supplier contracts
- A.5.21, technology supply chain
- A.5.22, watching your suppliers
Before it: A.5.18, granting and removing access. After it: A.5.20, security in supplier contracts. Every control, by theme, is on the Annex A controls page.
Questions
What does ISO 27001 A.5.19 require?
What evidence does an auditor want for A.5.19?
Get ready for ISO 27001 certification.
The readiness assessment is free, with no payment and no card. ISO 27001 is part of Constellation, at $10,800 a year: everything in Orbit plus the management system, the policies, the evidence and the management review for ISO 27001, and your SOC 2 Type 2 audit is included in every contract year. You contract the certification body directly.
The internal audit is priced separately: Polara arranges it with an independent internal auditor from our partner network who works in the platform, and quotes it for your company.
Take the free assessmentPolara Labs is not a certification body. Certification audits are performed by independent accredited certification bodies.