If anyone is asking what all the fuss is about ISO 27001, ISMS and all the rest of it, this article from SC Magazine should make them stop and think. Apparently, 1 in 4 Americans won’t be shopping online this Christmas because of security fears. On the upside, the article reveals that many consumers are taking sensible and active steps to protect themselves online. However, there is clearly a long way to go, and all that caution from millions of shoppers is bound to have a negative impact on prosperity in general. If this is true of the IT savvy United States, you can bet it is just as true elsewhere around the globe.
Where does ISMS fit into this? ISO 27001 is precisely the kind of confidence building measure that businesses need to put in place to make society more at ease with e-commerce. Getting certified is great for a company at the individual level (reducing business risks, reassuring customers, providing a competitive advantage), but it is also vitally important for society as a whole. We all know that the Internet is a long way from realising its full potential as a creator of wealth and improver of life quality; what more companies have to realise is that ISO 27001 is one of the vital building blocks that will help us reach that goal.
