Easy Hacks to Create an ISO 27001 Internal Audit Checklist

by Isabel Blamey Professional writer

Many of you might be dealing with ISO 27001 internal audit programs for the first time. This article intends to help the first timers creating an ideal checklist for their upcoming audit program.

Planning for a perfect internal auditing program to gain ISO 27001 certification without any ordeal? Then, being puzzled by the intricacies of the standard is quite natural. You may start by building a checklist to make the task easier. However, there is no universal checklist that could fit your business set up and your unique business requirements. We all know that every company, be it small, mid-level, or a big one is unique. Hence, you need to create a tailored checklist that can cater to exactly what your business is looking for.

In this article, we are going to share some easy hacks for building an effectual ISO 27001 internal audit checklist.

Let’s get into the hacks one-by-one:

1. Document Review

It is important for you to go through all the documents attentively that carry vital information about your Information Security Management System or Business Continuity Management System. This way you will be able to be familiar with the ISMS processes and identify the loopholes within the system (if there is any).

2. Building the Checklist

It would be better if you could create the checklist in parallel to the document review. You are reading about the relevant requirements stated in the documents (including processes, policies, and plans). Gathering knowledge from the documentation, you may look at your system to compare it against the requirements stated in ISO 27001 Standard. For instance, if you find a particular policy, let’s say, back up policy needs the backup to be prepared every four hours, then you might be able to note it down in your checklist so that you can recall it later on for checking if this was dealt with or not.

3. Creating a plan for the audit

If you have ever arranged ISO 14001 internal audit program or ISO 9001 internal audit program, then you might be aware of the fact that an internal auditing program is defined as a replica of the certification audit. Hence, you should address it seriously and take ample time for making the plan. First, arrange a meeting with your senior management and employees to learn about a convenient time. Once the time is decided, let your management hire one of the renowned ISO internal auditing service providers to take up the responsibility of conducting an exemplary auditing program.

4. Performing the auditing program

While working on your checklist, you should clearly outline how to perform the auditing program. If you want to outsource auditing services, then make the third party services informed about your objectives so that they would be able to execute an internal auditing program the way you are looking for.

5. Reporting

Reporting is another crucial part of an ISO 27001 internal audit program. Once you are done with the investigation part, it’s time for summarizing all the detected nonconformities. Here comes the importance of reporting. The auditing service or the internal resources you have employed for internal auditing should draft an internal audit report. Which format will you prefer? Which time do you think to be convenient for setting up the deadline? You shouldn’t forget to include all these things in your checklist.

6. Follow up

It is obvious that the internal auditors will be accountable for checking whether all the corrective actions emerged by during the auditing program have been resolved or not. Your checklist can play a pivotal role in reminding your auditors of the reasons why such a nonconformity took place. Once all the identified nonconformities are resolved, the internal auditors’ duty will be wrapped up.

A Final Takeaway :

The above discussion might have made you realize that creating an internal audit checklist will depend on the requirements existing within your policies and procedures. However, for the first timers, adding some basic requirements of ISO 27001 would be better for feeling more comfortable with the first audit. Moreover, before working on the auditing process, you may educate yourself about the standard. A clear understanding of the standard will make the techniques and requirements rather simple to you.

Before winding up this discussion, let us provide you with a quick recap of the elements you should include in your checklist

Reference
What to look for
Compliance
Findings

Always remember that if you have created your internal audit checklist properly, your task will become a lot easier.

Author Bio :

Edgar Somerville is a dependable market analyst and ISO auditing trainer who has been associated with one of the leading ISO auditing services for many years. He is adept with ISO 27001 internal audit program. Apart from that, he has penned down a dozen of informative blogs on ISO 14001 internal audit program, ISO 9001 Standard, and the growing importance of ISO certification.