Explanation: A third-party audit is an independent assessment of an organisation's management system by an external auditor, who is not affiliated with the organisation or its customers. The auditor verifies that the management system meets the requirements of a specific standard, such as ISO 27001, and evaluates its effectiveness and performance. The auditor also identifies any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or risks of the management system, and provides recommendations for improvement. The purpose of a third-party audit is to provide an objective and impartial evaluation of the organisation's management system, and to inform a certification decision by a certification body. A certification body is an organisation that grants a certificate of conformity to the organisation, after reviewing the audit report and evidence, and confirming that the management system meets the certification criteria. A certification decision is the outcome of the certification process, which can be positive (granting, maintaining, renewing, or expanding the scope of certification) or negative (suspending, withdrawing, or reducing the scope of certification). References: * PECB Candidate Handbook ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, pages 19-25 * ISO 19011:2018 - Guidelines for auditing management systems * The ISO 27001 audit process | ISMS.online
Question 57
In acceptable use of Information Assets, which is the best practice?
Correct Answer: A
The best practice in acceptable use of information assets is A: access to information and communication systems are provided for business purpose only. This means that the organization grants access to its information and communication systems only to authorized users who need to use them for legitimate and approved business activities. The organization does not allow or tolerate any unauthorized, inappropriate or personal use of its information and communication systems, as this could compromise information security, violate policies or laws, or cause damage or harm to the organization or its stakeholders. The other options are not best practices in acceptable use of information assets, as they could violate information security policies and procedures, as well as ethical or legal standards. Interfering with or denying service to any user other than the employee's host (B) is a malicious act that could disrupt the availability or performance of the information systems or services of another user or organization. Playing any computer games during office hours is a personal and unprofessional use of the information and communication systems that could distract the employee from their work duties, waste resources and bandwidth, or expose the systems to malware or other risks. Accessing phone or network transmissions, including wireless or wifi transmissions (D) is a potential breach of confidentiality or privacy that could intercept, monitor or modify the information transmitted by another user or organization without their consent or authorization. ISO/IEC 27001:2022 requires the organization to implement rules for acceptable use of assets (see clause A.8.1.3). Reference: CQI & IRCA Certified ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Lead Auditor Training Course, ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Information technology - Security techniques - Information security management systems - Requirements, What is Acceptable Use?
Question 58
You are carrying out your first third-party ISMS surveillance audit as an audit team leader. You are presently in the auditee's data centre with another member of your audit team and the organisation's guide. You request access to a locked room protected by a combination lock and iris scanner. In the corner of the room is a collection of hard drives piled on a desk. You ask the guide what the status of the drives is. He tells you the drives are redundant and awaiting disposal. They should have been picked up last week, but the organisation's external provider of secure destruction services was unable to source a driver due to staff sickness. He says this has recently become more common though he does not know why. He then presents you with a job ticket that confirms the pickup has been rescheduled for tomorrow. Based on the scenario above which three of the following actions would you now take?
Correct Answer: A,B,D
Question 59
You are an audit team leader who has just completed a third-party audit of a mobile telecommunication provider. You are preparing your audit report and are just about to complete a section headed 'confidentiality'. An auditor in training on your team asks you if there are any circumstances under which the confidential report can be released to third parties. Which four of the following responses are false?
Correct Answer: A,F,G,H
Explanation The audit report is a confidential document that contains sensitive information about the auditee's ISMS and its performance. The audit team has a duty to protect the confidentiality of the audit report and only disclose it to authorized parties, such as the audit client, the certification body, and the accreditation body. Therefore, the following responses are false: A: The audit team cannot decide to release the report to third parties without the consent of the audit client, as this would breach the confidentiality agreement and the audit code of conduct. The audit team should always inform the audit client before disclosing the report to any third party, and obtain their explicit, prior approval. F: Not every auditor employed by the auditing organization can access the audit report, as this would violate the principle of need-to-know. Only auditors who are involved in the audit process, such as the audit team leader, the audit team members, the audit programme manager, and the certification decision maker, can access the audit report. Other auditors who are not related to the audit have no legitimate reason to access the report, and should be prevented from doing so by appropriate security measures. G: The duty of confidentiality does not expire after a certain period of time, as this would compromise the trust and integrity of the audit process. The audit report remains confidential indefinitely, unless there is a legal or contractual obligation to disclose it, or the audit client agrees to release it. Third parties cannot access the audit report by making a subject access request, as this would infringe the privacy and data protection rights of the audit client and the auditee. H: Subcontracted auditors are not considered to be third parties regarding confidentiality, as they are part of the audit team and have a contractual relationship with the auditing organization. Subcontracted auditors are typically bound by the same confidentiality agreement and audit code of conduct as the employed auditors, and have the same rights and responsibilities to access and protect the audit report. References: = ISO/IEC 27001:2022, clause 9.2, Internal audit ISO/IEC 27006:2015, clause 7.2.3, Confidentiality PECB Candidate Handbook ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, page 22, Audit Report PECB Candidate Handbook ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, page 24, Audit Code of Conduct
Question 60
You are an experienced ISMS auditor conducting a third-party surveillance audit at an organisation which offers ICT reclamation services. ICT equipment which companies no longer require is processed by the organisation. It Is either recommissioned and reused or is securely destroyed. You notice two servers on a bench in the corner of the room. Both have stickers on item with the server's name, IP address and admin password. You ask the ICT Manager about them, and he tells you they were part of a shipment received yesterday from a regular customer. Which one action should you take?
Correct Answer: B
Explanation According to ISO 27001:2022 clause 8.1.4, the organisation shall ensure that externally provided processes, products or services that are relevant to the information security management system are controlled. This includes implementing appropriate contractual requirements related to information security with external providers, such as customers who send ICT equipment for reclamation12 In this case, the organisation offers ICT reclamation services, which involves processing customer ICT equipment that may contain sensitive or confidential information. The organisation should have a process in place to ensure that the customer ICT equipment is handled securely and in accordance with the customer's information security requirements. The process should include steps such as verifying the customer's identity and authorisation, checking the inventory and condition of the equipment, removing or destroying any labels or stickers that contain information about the equipment or the customer, wiping or erasing any data stored on the equipment, and documenting the actions taken and the results achieved12 The fact that the auditor noticed two servers on a bench with stickers that reveal the server's name, IP address and admin password indicates that the process for dealing with incoming shipments relating to customer IT security is not effective or not followed. This could pose a risk of unauthorised access, disclosure, or modification of the customer's information or systems. Therefore, the auditor should note the audit finding and check the process for dealing with incoming shipments relating to customer IT security, and determine whether there is a nonconformity with clause 8.1.4 of ISO 27001:202212 The other actions are not appropriate for the following reasons: * A. Asking the ICT Manager to record an information security incident and initiate the information security incident management process is not appropriate because this is not an information security incident that affects the organisation's own information or systems. An information security incident is defined as a single or a series of unwanted or unexpected information security events that have a significant probability of compromising business operations and threatening information security12 In this case, the information security event affects the customer's information or systems, not the organisation's. Therefore, the organisation should follow the process for dealing with incoming shipments relating to customer IT security, not the process for information security incident management. * C. Recording what the auditor has seen in the audit findings, but taking no further action is not appropriate because this would not address the root cause or the impact of the issue. The auditor has a responsibility to verify the effectiveness and compliance of the organisation's information security management system, and to report any nonconformities or opportunities for improvement12 Therefore, the auditor should check the process for dealing with incoming shipments relating to customer IT security, and determine whether there is a nonconformity with clause 8.1.4 of ISO 27001:2022. * D. Raising a nonconformity against control 5.31 Legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements is not appropriate because this control is not relevant to the issue. Control 5.31 requires the organisation to identify and comply with the legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements that are applicable to the information security management system12 In this case, the issue is not about the organisation's compliance with the legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements, but * about the organisation's control of the externally provided processes, products or services that are relevant to the information security management system. Therefore, the auditor should check the process for dealing with incoming shipments relating to customer IT security, and determine whether there is a nonconformity with clause 8.1.4 of ISO 27001:2022. * E. Raising a nonconformity against control 8.20 'network security' (networks and network devices shall be secured, managed and controlled to protect information in systems and applications) is not appropriate because this control is not relevant to the issue. Control 8.20 requires the organisation to secure, manage and control its own networks and network devices to protect the information in its systems and applications12 In this case, the issue is not about the organisation's network security, but about the organisation's control of the externally provided processes, products or services that are relevant to the information security management system. Therefore, the auditor should check the process for dealing with incoming shipments relating to customer IT security, and determine whether there is a nonconformity with clause 8.1.4 of ISO 27001:2022. * F. Asking the auditee to remove the labels, then carry on with the audit is not appropriate because this would not address the root cause or the impact of the issue. The auditor should not interfere with the auditee's operations or suggest corrective actions during the audit, as this would compromise the auditor's objectivity and impartiality12 The auditor should check the process for dealing with incoming shipments relating to customer IT security, and determine whether there is a nonconformity with clause 8.1.4 of ISO 27001:2022. References: 1: ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Lead Auditor (Information Security Management Systems) Course by CQI and IRCA Certified Training 1 2: ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Auditor Training Course by PECB 2
