What is ISO 27001 Annex A 5.26 in ISO 27001?
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.26 requires a documented process to manage security incidents. Organisations must identify: assess: and react to threats using internal business tools. This control ensures staff follow consistent steps during a breach. It focuses on maintaining evidence within your existing document management systems.
Auditor’s Eye: The Shortcut Trap
Reliance on “Black Box” SaaS platforms for incident management creates a major audit risk. These platforms often provide a dashboard that staff never visit. Auditors want to see that the incident response is part of your daily culture. If the evidence is not in your Jira or SharePoint: it probably did not happen. We look for version history in your native tools. This proves your team owns the security process.
The 2022 update refined how organisations categorise and track responses. The table below outlines the transition for this specific control.
| ISO 27001:2013 Control | ISO 27001:2022 Control | Nature of Change |
|---|---|---|
| A.16.1.5 Response to incidents | A.5.26 Response to incidents | Renumbered. Now requires broader process integration. |
| A.16.1.1 Policy support | A.5.26 Combined | Policy and response are now linked more tightly. |
How to Implement ISO 27001 Annex A 5.26 (Step-by-Step)
Effective implementation requires integrating incident workflows into your current company tools like Jira and Confluence. You must move away from isolated security software. A cultural change ensures every employee knows how to report a threat. This approach makes security part of your business-as-usual operations.
- Map Workflows in Jira: Create a security incident ticket type. Set mandatory fields for impact and resolution. Link these tickets to your internal risk register.
- Centralise Playbooks in Confluence: Write clear instructions for handling common attacks. Ensure these pages are restricted to authorised personnel. Use the history feature to track annual reviews.
- Store Policies in SharePoint: Upload your Incident Response Policy to a controlled SharePoint folder. Use version control to show auditor-approved changes. This provides a clear audit trail of policy evolution.
- Conduct Root Cause Analysis: Log every post-mortem review in your internal wiki. Detail what failed and how you corrected it. This proves your ISMS is actively improving.
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.26 Audit Evidence Checklist
Auditors look for manual records and human intent. Use this checklist to verify your preparedness using internal systems.
- Incident Response Plan: A version-controlled PDF or page in SharePoint.
- Jira Audit Trail: A filtered list showing all resolved security tickets.
- Meeting Minutes: Records from management meetings discussing recent security events.
- Internal Playbooks: Documentation in Confluence showing specific technical response steps.
- Training Logs: Evidence in your HR system that staff read the response policy.
Relational Mapping
Annex A 5.26 does not exist in isolation. It connects to several other ISO 27001 requirements:
- Clause 9.1: Monitoring and measurement provide the data that triggers an incident.
- Annex A 5.24: Information security incident planning sets the strategy for this response.
- Annex A 8.16: Monitoring logs are the primary source for identifying incident start times.
Auditor Interview: Direct Questions
Auditor: “Where do you store the records of your last three security incidents?”
Response: “We manage all security events through our internal Jira service desk.”
Auditor: “Show me how you ensured the response policy was updated after that breach.”
Response: “The SharePoint version history shows the update and approval date following our review.”
Common Non-Conformities
| Failure Mode | Specific Example | Auditor Note |
|---|---|---|
| Automated Complacency | Using a SaaS tick-box without internal documentation. | Evidence must exist in your native document system. |
| Stale Playbooks | Instructions in the wiki have not been reviewed for 2 years. | Perform and document annual reviews in Confluence. |
| Lack of RCA | Incidents are closed without a documented root cause. | Every Jira ticket must have a root cause field. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ISO 27001 Annex A 5.26?
Bottom Line Up Front: It is a requirement for a documented incident response process. Organisations must define how they react to security events. This process should use internal tools like Jira or SharePoint. It ensures your team maintains control over incident data and evidence.
How do you document an incident response?
Bottom Line Up Front: Document the response by creating playbooks in your internal wiki. Link these to incident logging tickets in Jira. This creates a clear trail for auditors. Use SharePoint to manage the versions of your overarching response policy.
Why avoid automated SaaS compliance for incident response?
Bottom Line Up Front: Automated platforms often decouple security from your daily work. Auditors prefer seeing incident management in your native document repositories. This proves that your staff actually understands the process. It demonstrates management ownership of the incident lifecycle.