ISO 27001 A.8.19: installing software, explained for startups
What A.8.19 asks of a small company, and what an auditor samples.
Control what software gets installed on your production systems and who can install it. Unapproved software introduces risk and instability.
Why it exists: to keep unapproved software off its servers and staff devices.
A.8.19 Installation of software on operational systems
Only approved software is installed on servers and staff devices. What proves it: rules for who can install software, and the settings that enforce them.
A certification auditor samples software install rules and allow lists. A file that usually does the job: device management settings that block unapproved apps, and production changes deployed only through your pipeline.
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.8.19 walks you through it in this order.
- Deploy production software only through your pipeline.
- Limit installs on staff devices through device management.
- Review installed software every quarter.
No question in the readiness assessment covers A.8.19 directly, so the control card is its whole evidence path.
Policies, connectors and the SOC 2 overlap
In the ISO 27001 policy pack, the Operations Security Policy covers A.8.19. 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 criteria that cover this ground: CC6.8, malware prevention and CC8.1, change management.
Technological controls
A.8.19 is one of the 34 technological controls in Annex A. The controls built into your systems: access, devices, malware, vulnerabilities, backups, logging, networks, encryption and secure development. Exports and settings screenshots prove most of them.
Nearby controls in the same theme:
- A.8.16, monitoring for anomalies
- A.8.17, clock synchronization
- A.8.18, powerful admin utilities
- A.8.20, network security
- A.8.21, network services
- A.8.22, network segregation
Before it: A.8.18, powerful admin utilities. After it: A.8.20, network security. Every control, by theme, is on the Annex A controls page.
Questions
What does ISO 27001 A.8.19 require?
What evidence does an auditor want for A.8.19?
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.