ISO 27001 for Startups: Everything You Need to Know
From certification costs and timelines to audit prep, get the complete ISO 27001 implementation roadmap.
ISO 27001 isn’t a simple, straightforward framework. Especially for startups that don’t have a full-time Chief Information Security Officer to lead compliance efforts.
But if you want to expand and scale outside of North America, ISO 27001 is essential. Without it, your international sales efforts will hit a wall very fast.
In this guide, we’ll give you everything you need to know about ISO 27001 as a startup. From exactly what it is, to why you need it, and how to implement it.
What is ISO 27001?
Formally known as ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 27001 is a standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It gives businesses a framework and guidelines to securely maintain its Information Security Management System (ISMS).
Jargon aside, here’s what that means…
Modern businesses deal with a lot of data. And ISO 27001 was created to ensure organizations have controls in place to securely store and process sensitive data.
The basis of ISO 27001 is built on the CIA Triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability):
- Confidentiality: Making sure your data is protected from unauthorized access.
- Integrity: You ensure data is maintained and accurate.
- Availability: Your systems and services are accessible to authorized users.
ISO 27001 helps an organization build customer confidence by proving it can be trusted to look after customer and business data, especially in international markets (outside of North America) where ISO 27001 compliance is expected by the majority of mid-market and enterprise businesses.
If you sell outside of the US, ISO 27001 will go a long way to build credibility with potential customers and reduce sales friction.
What Are the Benefits of ISO 27001 for a Startup?
Some early start startups view compliance as a tax on speed — a hoop you have to jump through because a customer demanded it. But beyond tightening up your security controls, ISO 27001 is a go-to-market asset, with several benefits for startups:
Global Market Access
While SOC 2 compliance is often sufficient for startups selling into North America, it’s less widely recognized as a primary standard in other regions, where many organizations prefer or even require ISO 27001 certification.
If you are bidding on an RFP for a German automotive manufacturer or a Singaporean bank, SOC 2 alone may not be enough to give you a chance of winning the contract. Whereas ISO 27001 compliance shows international businesses that they can trust your security posture and builds confidence in your ability to safeguard customer data.
Operational Discipline
ISO 27001 forces your organization to implement security controls that work to protect data (and there are a lot of controls in ISO 27001). Without the forcing function of an ISO 27001 audit (or SOC 2 audit) many organizations end up with controls that may not be implemented effectively, leaving them (and therefore their customers vulnerable to attacks.
Startups run on speed, which inevitably creates tech and security debt. In the early days, shortcuts like shared root passwords and ad-hoc offboarding feel necessary to move fast. ISO 27001 acts as a forcing function to pay down that debt. It forces you to systematize cybersecurity processes and professionalize your engineering operations.
Eliminate Security Blind Spots
It is common to see startups with strong technical security controls (like encryption) but weak operational processes (like vendor risk management). Working towards ISO 27001 requires your organization to implement controls and processes across the entire organization that ensure data is protected effectively and vulnerabilities are minimized.
Non-IT Security
When people think of security frameworks, their minds almost instinctively think about cybersecurity. But physical security matters too and ISO 27001 forces your organization to build out effective security processes for non-IT assets such as printed documents, hard drives and services, and physical spaces.
Reduction of Threats
Hackers follow the path of least resistance. And increasingly see startups as a vulnerable entry point to gather data, targeting vendors with lighter security controls. For a startup, ISO 27001 forces you to take security seriously and to build out a security posture that hackers can’t easily penetrate.
Long-Term Growth and Cost Savings
Security is often the gatekeeper to enterprise growth. If you’re focused on scaling outside of North America, your sales team will hit a wall pretty quickly without ISO 27001. So while it may cost a fair amount to get compliant, the long-term growth it unlocks makes it worthwhile.
But the value extends beyond closing more deals. Implementing ISO 27001 as you scale helps to avoid rapidly growing security debt as your team, customer base, and revenues increase. It’s much easier to build a security-focused compliance organization from day one than it is to get a whole 50-person team trained in compliance. Implementing ISO 27001 now means you don’t have a huge security refactoring bill coming at some point in the future.
ISO 27001 Certification Costs for Startups
ISO 27001 compliance and certification can cost anywhere from $10,000-50,000+ depending on your current security posture, business size, and the level of external support needed to implement controls and prepare for audit.
Here’s what you need to consider when it comes to pricing up ISO 27001 implementation:
- Your internal team: Your engineering team will need to spend time away from product focused work to help implement security controls and build out internal processes. Your leadership team will also need to be involved in drafting and signing off policies.
- Security Awareness Training (SAT): An essential part of ISO 27001, SAT ensures your entire team is trained on your security practices and processes.
- Consultants: If you’ve not been through ISO 27001 before, an external support team like Workstreet can help you to effectively and efficiently implement controls, prepare for audit, and avoid costly mistakes.
- Internal audits: An internal audit and gap analysis is an essential part of the ISO 27001 certification process. You’ll also need to have regular surveillance audits to maintain ISO 27001 certification.
- Software and compliance automation tools: Like Vanta to help streamline evidence collection and audit prep.
- Penetration testing: Pen tests are required for ISO 27001, to ensure you spot any vulnerabilities.
From ISMS design to control implementation and audit prep, Workstreet offers an expert-led, AI-powered solution to help you meet the ISO 27001 requirements fast.
How to Get ISO 27001 Certified
The timeline for a typical startup is 3 to 6 months. Here is the roadmap.
1. Define the Scope
The first step is to decide which parts of your organisation will be in scope for ISO 27001. This matters because your scope statement appears on your ISO 27001 certificate and will be visible to any customers or prospects you share it with.
Your ISO 27001 scope defines which locations, systems, processes, and teams are covered by your information security management system (ISMS) and therefore by the certification. Typically, you include the parts of the organisation that handle or support information assets you need to protect.
For example, how you protect customer data on your production servers should be in scope. A staff room where no information assets are stored or accessed may not need to be included in scope.
You’ll also need to produce a Statement of Applicability (SoA), which lists all applicable ISO 27001 controls, states whether each control is implemented or not, and explains the justification for that decision. It should clearly describe how the controls you’ve selected help you treat or mitigate the information security risks identified in your risk assessment.
2. Gap Analysis
With your scope set, it’s now time to see how your current security controls and ISMS stack up against ISO 27001 requirements. The gap analysis will help you identify any areas or controls that need attention so you can prioritize what needs to be done in order to meet ISO 27001 requirements.
Software like Vanta can help speed up the gap analysis process, and as Vanta’s #1MSP Workstreet can assist with your Vanta implementation.
3. Remediate Gaps and Implement Policies
After your gap analysis you should have a clear list of fixes and policies to put in place. Now, it’s time to build out your ISMS to ensure it meets the requirements and standards of ISO 27001 and you’re confident it’d pass an external audit.
Policy development is another critical step in the ISO 27001 process. You’ll need to define and document policies and procedures that support your information security management system (ISMS).
Common examples include:
- Information Security Policy
- Access Control Policy
- Asset Management Policy
- Risk Management Policy
- Business Continuity / Incident Management procedures
- Change Management procedures
- Data Protection / Privacy Policy (where relevant)
The exact set of policies you need will depend on your organisation and the scope of your ISMS — ISO 27001 isn’t strictly one-size-fits-all, and you can structure and name your policies in a way that makes sense for you, as long as you cover the required controls.
4. Internal Audit
For ISO 27001 compliance your organization must complete an internal audit to ensure your ISMS meets the needed standards and requirements. An internal audit can be completed by your internal security team but many organizations choose to work with a third-party consultant to perform an internal audit as it’s essential that your auditor has the required experience to complete the audit effectively.
5. Find an ISO 27001 Certification Provider
ISO 27001 certification can only be granted by third-party auditors, not directly from the ISO. Any auditor you work with needs to adhere to CASCO standards which are set by the ISO.
6. Complete Your Audit
With an auditor in place, it’s now time to begin the two-stage ISO 27001 audit.
Stage 1 is more information and essentially your auditor is running through your readiness for audit. They’ll review your SoA and make sure it aligns with your other documentation as well as reviewing your ISMS to ensure it meets ISO 27001 requirements. If everything at this stage looks good, you can move on to the formal audit.
At Stage 2, your auditor will shift from reviewing your documentation to validating that your ISMS is working as it’s designed to and testing that all the required controls are in place. They may also interview staff, check security logs, and ensure any physical controls are in place. The Stage 2 audit can take several weeks to complete.
If the auditor spots any issues, certification will be withheld until they are remediated and re-audited. If everything works as required, you’ll pass and relieve a formal ISO 27001 certificate and audit report
ISO 27001 Challenges Faced by Startups
Understanding Requirements
ISO 27001 is a framework, not a checklist. It tells you what to achieve (e.g., Access Control), but doesn’t detail explicitly what you need to implement to meet each requirement. The challenge for startup teams is they often don’t have an experienced Chief Information Security Officer so haven’t been through the process before.
Resource Constraints
By nature, startups have to grow fast to survive. That means you can’t afford to take your CTO away from building key product features for a few months in order to implement security controls and policies to meet ISO 27001. If your top engineers and context switch between writing code, managing your product roadmap, and implementing security policies, quality in all three areas inevitably suffers. That’s why many startups turn to third-party consultants like Workstreet to support their compliance efforts.
Automating the Evidence Trail
Often the heaviest lift in ISO 27001 compliance isn't implementing the controls, it’s proving they work. Huge amounts of evidence is required so ad-hoc screenshots and loosely maintained Google Docs won’t suffice. Many startups turn to automation tools like Vanta to help them collect evidence but if you haven’t implemented a compliance automation tool before, the learning curve can also be steep.
Streamline Your ISO 27001 Journey with Workstreet
ISO 27001 is a heavy lift, but once you’re compliant it opens up a world of opportunities (literally). If you’re selling outside North America, or plan to as you grow, ISO 27001 is a must.
If you want to work towards ISO 27001 with an expert team in your corner, Workstreet can support you all the way from implementing a roadmap to operationalizing an audit-proven ISMS.
Get in touch with our team here.
ISO 27001 for Startups FAQs
Is ISO 27001 Mandatory for Startups?
No, it is not a legal requirement like GDPR. However, it is effectively mandatory if you want to close deals with Enterprise customers or international partners.
How Long Does ISO 27001 Take?
Typically 3 to 6 months. It can be done faster with aggressive scoping and automation, but the external auditors usually have booking lead times that prevent doing it in under 3 months.
Can I Do ISO 27001 Myself?
It is possible, but highly inefficient. Without a compliance platform to map controls and collect evidence, you will drown in spreadsheets.
What is the Difference Between SOC 2 and ISO 27001?
SOC 2 is popular in North America and allows you to design your own controls. ISO 27001 is international, prescriptive, and binary (pass/fail). Check our guide to SOC 2 vs. ISO 27001 here.
Does ISO 27001 Require a Penetration Test?
Yes. While the standard doesn't use the words penetration test explicitly, it requires you to verify technical vulnerabilities. Practically speaking, every auditor will require a recent pen test.
How Long is the Certification Valid?
The certificate is valid for 3 years, subject to passing annual surveillance audits.
