ISO 27001 A.8.22: network segregation, explained for startups

A.8.22 Segregation of networks

Production is kept apart from development and test. What proves it: production separated from development and test, so a mistake in one cannot reach the other.

A certification auditor samples account or network separation. A file that usually does the job: a cloud account list showing separate production and development accounts.

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.8.22 walks you through it in this order.

1. Put production in its own cloud account or network.
2. Remove direct paths from development to production.
3. Check the separation after major changes.

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

• Are production and development networks segmented?

Policies, connectors and the SOC 2 overlap

In the ISO 27001 policy pack, the Network Security Policy covers A.8.22. 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: CC6.1, logical access and CC6.6, network boundaries.

Technological controls

A.8.22 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.8.19, installing software
• A.8.20, network security
• A.8.21, network services
• A.8.23, web filtering
• A.8.24, encryption
• A.8.25, secure development

Before it: A.8.21, network services. After it: A.8.23, web filtering. Every control, by theme, is on the Annex A controls page.