ISO 27001 A.7.14: disposing of equipment, explained for startups

A.7.14 Secure disposal or re-use of equipment

Devices are wiped or destroyed before they are reused or thrown away. What proves it: devices and storage are wiped or destroyed before reuse or disposal, with a record.

A certification auditor samples wipe or destruction certificates. A file that usually does the job: a device management wipe log, or a certificate from a certified disposal vendor.

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.7.14 walks you through it in this order.

1. Wipe laptops through device management before reuse.
2. Use a certified disposal vendor for devices you retire.
3. Log each device with the date and method.

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

• How do you wipe or dispose of laptops and drives?

Policies, connectors and the SOC 2 overlap

In the ISO 27001 policy pack, the Asset Management and Information Classification Policy covers A.7.14. 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: CC6.5, data and device disposal.

Physical controls

A.7.14 is one of the 14 physical controls in Annex A. Buildings, rooms, equipment and media. A remote company with no office can exclude several of these in its Statement of Applicability, with the reason written down, and covers the rest through laptop rules and its cloud provider.

Nearby controls in the same theme:

• A.7.11, power and utilities
• A.7.12, cabling
• A.7.13, equipment maintenance

Before it: A.7.13, equipment maintenance. After it: A.8.1, laptops and phones. Every control, by theme, is on the Annex A controls page.