As the Information Security Management System audit team leader, you are conducting a second-party audit of an international logistics company on behalf of an online retailer. During the audit, one of your team members reports a nonconformity relating to control 5.18 (Access rights) of Appendix A of ISO/IEC 27001:2022. She found evidence that removing the server access protocols of 20 people who left in the last 3 months took up to 1 week whereas the policy required removing access within 24 hours of their departure.
When the auditee was asked why there was a delay in removing access they replied, 'no one was available in the IT department during that period as a result of COVID-19. As soon as an IT officer became available the rights were removed.
You note that she intends to raise a minor non-conformity against Access rights control (5.18). How should you respond to this?
Scenario 6: Sinvestment is an insurance company that offers home, commercial, and life insurance. The company was founded in North Carolina, but have recently expanded in other locations, including Europe and Africa.
Sinvestment is committed to complying with laws and regulations applicable to their industry and preventing any information security incident. They have implemented an ISMS based on ISO/IEC 27001 and have applied for ISO/IEC 27001 certification.
Two auditors were assigned by the certification body to conduct the audit. After signing a confidentiality agreement with Sinvestment. they started the audit activities. First, they reviewed the documentation required by the standard, including the declaration of the ISMS scope, information security policies, and internal audits reports. The review process was not easy because, although Sinvestment stated that they had a documentation procedure in place, not all documents had the same format.
Then, the audit team conducted several interviews with Sinvestment's top management to understand their role in the ISMS implementation. All activities of the stage 1 audit were performed remotely, except the review of documented information, which took place on-site, as requested by Sinvestment.
During this stage, the auditors found out that there was no documentation related to information security training and awareness program. When asked, Sinvestment's representatives stated that the company has provided information security training sessions to all employees. Stage 1 audit gave the audit team a general understanding of Sinvestment's operations and ISMS.
The stage 2 audit was conducted three weeks after stage 1 audit. The audit team observed that the marketing department (which was not included in the audit scope) had no procedures in place to control employees’ access rights. Since controlling employees' access rights is one of the ISO/IEC 27001 requirements and was included in the information security policy of the company, the issue was included in the audit report. In addition, during stage 2 audit, the audit team observed that Sinvestment did not record logs of user activities. The procedures of the company stated that "Logs recording user activities should be retained and regularly reviewed," yet the company did not present any evidence of the implementation of such procedure.
During all audit activities, the auditors used observation, interviews, documented information review, analysis, and technical verification to collect information and evidence. All the audit findings during stages 1 and 2 were analyzed and the audit team decided to issue a positive recommendation for certification.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
The audit team reviewed Sinvestment's documented information on-site, as requested by the company. Is this acceptable?
From the following options, select the one option that is the sole responsibility of a third-party audit team leader.
You are an experienced audit team leader conducting a third-party surveillance audit of an organisation that designs websites for its clients. You are currently reviewing the organisation's Statement of Applicability.
Based on the requirements of ISO/IEC 27001, which two of the following observations about the Statement of Applicability are true?
Scenario 5: Data Grid Inc. is a well-known company that delivers security services across the entire information technology infrastructure. It provides cybersecurity software, including endpoint security, firewalls, and antivirus software. For two decades, Data Grid Inc. has helped various companies secure their networks through advanced products and services. Having achieved reputation in the information and network security field, Data Grid Inc. decided to obtain the ISO/IEC 27001 certification to better secure its internal and customer assets and gain competitive advantage.
Data Grid Inc. appointed the audit team, who agreed on the terms of the audit mandate. In addition, Data Grid Inc. defined the audit scope, specified the audit criteria, and proposed to close the audit within five days. The audit team rejected Data Grid Inc.'s proposal to conduct the audit within five days, since the company has a large number of employees and complex processes. Data Grid Inc. insisted that they have planned to complete the audit within five days, so both parties agreed upon conducting the audit within the defined duration. The audit team followed a risk-based auditing approach.
To gain an overview of the main business processes and controls, the audit team accessed process descriptions and organizational charts. They were unable to perform a deeper analysis of the IT risks and controls because their access to the IT infrastructure and applications was restricted. However, the audit team stated that the risk that a significant defect could occur to Data Grid Inc.'s ISMS was low since most of the company's processes were automated. They therefore evaluated that the ISMS, as a whole, conforms to the standard requirements by asking the representatives of Data Grid Inc. the following questions:
•How are responsibilities for IT and IT controls defined and assigned?
•How does Data Grid Inc. assess whether the controls have achieved the desired results?
•What controls does Data Grid Inc. have in place to protect the operating environment and data from malicious software?
•Are firewall-related controls implemented?
Data Grid Inc.'s representatives provided sufficient and appropriate evidence to address all these questions.
The audit team leader drafted the audit conclusions and reported them to Data Grid Inc.'s top management. Though Data Grid Inc. was recommended for certification by the auditors, misunderstandings were raised between Data Grid Inc. and the certification body in regards to audit objectives. Data Grid Inc. stated that even though the audit objectives included the identification of areas for potential improvement, the audit team did not provide such information.
Based on this scenario, answer the following question:
Which type of audit risk was defined as “low* by the audit team? Refer to scenario 5.
Scenario 5: Cobt. an insurance company in London, offers various commercial, industrial, and life insurance solutions. In recent years, the number of Cobt's clients has increased enormously. Having a huge amount of data to process, the company decided that certifying against ISO/IEC 27001 would bring many benefits to securing information and show its commitment to continual improvement. While the company was well-versed in conducting regular risk assessments, implementing an ISMS brought major changes to its daily operations. During the risk assessment process, a risk was identified where significant defects occurred without being detected or prevented by the organizations internal control mechanisms.
The company followed a methodology to implement the ISMS and had an operational ISMS in place after only a few months After successfully implementing the ISMS, Cobt applied for ISO/IEC 27001 certification Sarah, an experienced auditor, was assigned to the audit Upon thoroughly analyzing the audit offer, Sarah accepted her responsibilities as an audit team leader and immediately started to obtain general information about Cobt She established the audit criteria and objective, planned the audit, and assigned the audit team members' responsibilities.
Sarah acknowledged that although Cobt has expanded significantly by offering diverse commercial and insurance solutions, it still relies on some manual processes Therefore, her initial focus was to gather information on how the company manages its information security risks Sarah contacted Cobt's representatives to request access to information related to risk management for the off-site review, as initially agreed upon for part of the audit However, Cobt later refused, claiming that such information is too sensitive to be accessed outside of the company This refusal raised concerns about the audit's feasibility, particularly regarding the availability and cooperation of the auditee and access to evidence Moreover, Cobt raised concerns about the audit schedule, stating that it does not properly reflect the recent changes the company made It pointed out that the actions to be performed during the audit apply only to the initial scope and do not encompass the latest changes made in the audit scope
Sarah also evaluated the materiality of the situation, considering the significance of the information denied for the audit objectives. In this case, the refusal by Cobt raised questions about the completeness of the audit and its ability to provide reasonable assurance. Following these situations, Sarah decided to withdraw from the audit before a certification agreement was signed and communicated her decision to Cobt and the certification body. This decision was made to ensure adherence to audit principles and maintain transparency, highlighting her commitment to consistently upholding these principles.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
Question:
Based on the role of Sarah described in Scenario 5, which of the following should NOT be part of her responsibilities?
The data centre at which you work is currently seeking ISO/IEC27001:2022 certification. In preparation for your initial certification visit, several internal audits have been carried out by a colleague working at another data centre within your Group. They secured their own ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certificate earlier in the year.
You have just qualified as an Internal ISMS auditor and your manager has asked you to review the audit process and audit findings as a final check before the external Certification Body arrives.
Which four of the following would cause you concern in respect of conformity to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 requirements?
TESTED 24 Feb 2026
