Scenario:
Northstorm is an online retail shop offering unique vintage and modern accessories. It initially entered a small market but gradually grew thanks to the development of the overall e-commerce landscape. Northstorm works exclusively online and ensures efficient payment processing, inventory management, marketing tools, and shipment orders. It uses prioritized ordering to receive, restock, and ship its most popular products.
Northstorm has traditionally managed its IT operations by hosting its website and maintaining full control over its infrastructure, including hardware, software, and data administration. However, this approach hindered its growth due to the lack of responsive infrastructure. Seeking to enhance its e-commerce and payment systems, Northstorm opted to expand its in-house data centers, completing the expansion in two phases over three months. Initially, the company upgraded its core servers, point-of-sale, ordering, billing, database, and backup systems. The second phase involved improving mail, payment, and network functionalities. Additionally, during this phase, Northstorm adopted an international standard for personally identifiable information (PII) controllers and PII processors regarding PII processing to ensure its data handling practices were secure and compliant with global regulations.
Despite the expansion, Northstorm's upgraded data centers failed to meet its evolving business demands. This inadequacy led to several new challenges, including issues with order prioritization. Customers reported not receiving priority orders, and the company struggled with responsiveness. This was largely due to the main server's inability to process orders from YouDecide, an application designed to prioritize orders and simulate customer interactions. The application, reliant on advanced algorithms, was incompatible with the new operating system (OS) installed during the upgrade.
Faced with urgent compatibility issues, Northstorm quickly patched the application without proper validation, leading to the installation of a compromised version. This security lapse resulted in the main server being affected and the company's website going offline for a week. Recognizing the need for a more reliable solution, the company decided to outsource its website hosting to an e-commerce provider. The company signed a confidentiality agreement concerning product ownership and conducted a thorough review of user access rights to enhance security before transitioning.
Question:
Which of the following is a preventive control based on Scenario 1?
OrgXY is an ISO/IEC 27001-certified software development company. A year after being certified, OrgXY's top management informed the certification body that the company was not ready for conducting the surveillance audit. What happens in this case?
Which three of the following work documents are not required for audit planning by an auditor conducting a certification audit?
Select two options that describe an advantage of using a checklist.
Using the same checklist for every audit without review
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:
Data Grid Inc. is responsible for all the actions below, EXCEPT:
AppFolk, a software development company, is seeking certification against ISO/IEC 27001. In the initial phases of the external audit, the certification body in discussion with the company excluded the marketing division from the audit scope, although they stated in their ISMS scope that the whole company is included. Is this acceptable?
Scenario 6
Sinvestment is an insurance provider that offers a wide range of coverage options, including home, commercial, and life insurance. Originally established in North California, the company has expanded its operations to other locations, including Europe and Africa. In addition to its growth, Sinvestment is committed to complying with laws and regulations applicable to its industry and preventing any information security incident. They have implemented an information security management system (ISMS) based on ISO/IEC 27001 and have applied for certification.
A team of auditors was assigned by the certification body to conduct the audit. After signing a confidentiality agreement with Sinvestment, they started the audit activities. For the activities of the stage 1 audit, it was decided that they would be performed on site, except the review of documented information, which took place remotely, as requested by Sinvestment.
The audit team started the stage 1 audit by reviewing the documentation required, including the declaration of the ISMS scope, information security policies, and internal audit reports. The evaluation of the documented information was based on the content and procedure for managing the documented information.
In addition, the auditors found out that the documentation related to information security training and awareness programs was incomplete and lacked essential details. When asked, Sinvestment’s top management stated that the company has provided information security training sessions to all employees.
The stage 2 audit was conducted three weeks after the stage 1 audit. The audit team observed that the marketing department (not included in the audit scope) had no procedures to control employees’ access rights. Since controlling employees' access rights is one of the ISO/IEC 27001 requirements and was included in the company's information security policy, the issue was included in the audit report.
Question
Based on Scenario 6, what methods did the audit team use for evidence collection and analysis during the audit of Sinvestment's ISMS?
Scenario 3: NightCore is a multinational technology company based in the United States that focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. After having an information security management system (ISMS) implemented for over 8 months, they contracted a certification body to conduct a third party audit in order to get certified against ISO/IEC 27001.
The certification body set up a team of seven auditors. Jack, the most experienced auditor, was assigned as the audit team leader. Over the years, he received many well known certifications, such as the ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor, CISA, CISSP, and CISM.
Jack conducted thorough analyses on each phase of the ISMS audit, by studying and evaluating every information security requirement and control that was implemented by NightCore. During stage 2 audit. Jack detected several nonconformities. After comparing the number of purchased invoices for software licenses with the software inventory, Jack found out that the company has been using the illegal versions of a software for many computers. He decided to ask for an explanation from the top management about this nonconformity and see whether they were aware about this. His next step was to audit NightCore's IT Department. The top management assigned Tom, NightCore's system administrator, to act as a guide and accompany Jack and the audit team toward the inner workings of their system and their digital assets infrastructure.
While interviewing a member of the Department of Finance, the auditors discovered that the company had recently made some unusual large transactions to one of their consultants. After gathering all the necessary details regarding the transactions. Jack decided to directly interview the top management.
When discussing about the first nonconformity, the top management told Jack that they willingly decided to use a copied software over the original one since it was cheaper. Jack explained to the top management of NightCore that using illegal versions of software is against the requirements of ISO/IEC 27001 and the national laws and regulations. However, they seemed to be fine with it.
Several months after the audit, Jack sold some of NightCore's information that he collected during the audit for a huge amount of money to competitors of NightCore.
Based on this scenario, answer the following question:
Based on scenario 3. which ISO/IEC 27001 control has NightCore ignored when they used an illegal version of software?
You are an experienced ISMS audit team leader providing guidance to an auditor in training.
The auditor in training appears to be confused about the interpretation of competence in ISO 27001:2022 and is seeking clarification from you that his understanding is correct. He sets out a series of mini scenarios and asks you which of these you would attribute to a lack of competence. Select four correct options.
TESTED 24 Feb 2026
