ISMS-DOC-A05-3 Cloud Computing Policy

Cloud Computing Policy

ISO/IEC 27001 Toolkit: Version 11 ©CertiKit

Cloud Computing Policy [Insert classification]

Implementation guidance The header page and this section, up to and including Disclaimer, must be removed from the final version of the document. For more details on replacing the logo, yellow highlighted text and certain generic terms, see the Completion Instructions document.

Purpose of this document This document describes how services provided by third parties will be monitored and reviewed.

Areas of the standard addressed The following areas of the ISO/IEC 27001 standard are addressed by this document: • •

A.5 Information security policies o A.5.1 Management direction for information security ▪ A.5.1.1 Policies for information security A.15 Supplier relationships o A.15.1 Information security in supplier relationships

General guidance Cloud computing is now in general use and introduces its own specific challenges. The key is to ensure that you are maintaining enough control and due diligence over the selection and use of cloud services so that data is not exposed to unacceptable risks.

Many of the other policies that govern aspects such as access control and backups will also apply to cloud services and these become even more important when your data is stored outside of your internal network.

Review frequency We would recommend that this document is reviewed annually.

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Document fields This document may contain fields which need to be updated with your own information, including a field for Organization Name that is linked to the custom document property “Organization Name”.

To update this field (and any others that may exist in this document): 1. Update the custom document property “Organization Name” by clicking File > Info > Properties > Advanced Properties > Custom > Organization Name.

2. Press Ctrl A on the keyboard to select all text in the document (or use Select, Select All via the Editing header on the Home tab).

3. Press F9 on the keyboard to update all fields.

4. When prompted, choose the option to just update TOC page numbers.

If you wish to permanently convert the fields in this document to text, for instance, so that they are no longer updateable, you will need to click into each occurrence of the field and press Ctrl Shift F9.

If you would like to make all fields in the document visible, go to File > Options > Advanced > Show document content > Field shading and set this to “Always”. This can be useful to check you have updated all fields correctly.

Further detail on the above procedure can be found in the toolkit Completion Instructions.

This document also contains guidance on working with the toolkit documents with an Apple Mac, and in Google Docs/Sheets.

Copyright notice Except for any specifically identified third-party works included, this document has been authored by CertiKit, and is ©CertiKit except as stated below. CertiKit is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 6432088.

Licence terms This document is licensed on and subject to the standard licence terms of CertiKit, available on request, or by download from our website. All other rights are reserved. Unless you have purchased this product you only have an evaluation licence.

If this product was purchased, a full licence is granted to the person identified as the licensee in the relevant purchase order. The standard licence terms include special terms relating to any third-party copyright included in this document.

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Cloud Computing Policy

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1 Introduction The purpose of this document is to set out the organization’s policy in the area of cloud computing.

[Organization Name] makes extensive use of cloud computing services in the delivery of its core business systems. The nature of these services is such that data is stored outside of the [Organization Name] internal network and is subject to access and management by a third party. Furthermore, many cloud services are offered on a multi-tenanted basis in which the infrastructure is shared across multiple customers of the Cloud Service Provider (CSP), making effective and secure segregation a key requirement.

It is therefore essential that rules are established for the selection and management of cloud computing services so that data is appropriately protected according to its business value and classification.

Cloud computing is generally accepted to consist of the following types of services: • • •

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): The provision of a hosted application for use as part of a business process. Hosting usually includes all supporting components for the application such as hardware, operating software, databases etc.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Hardware and supporting software such as operating system, database, development platform, web server etc. are provided but no business applications Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): Only physical or virtual hardware components are provided

This policy applies to the use of all types of cloud computing services and is particularly relevant where personal data is stored.

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2 Policy It is [Organization Name] policy in the area of cloud computing that: Data belonging to [Organization Name] will only be stored within cloud services with the prior permission of the Chief Information Officer.

Appropriate risk assessment must be carried out regarding proposed or continued use of cloud services, including a full understanding of the information security controls implemented by the CSP. Due diligence must be conducted prior to sign-up to a cloud service provider to ensure that appropriate controls will be in place to protect data. Preference will be given to suppliers who are certified to the ISO/IEC 27001 international standard and who comply to the principles of the ISO/IEC 27017 and ISO/IEC 27018 codes of practice for cloud services.

Service level agreements and contracts with cloud service providers must be reviewed, understood and accepted before sign-up to the service.

Contracts involving personal data must be checked to ensure that they comply with applicable data protection legislation. If not, a separate data processing agreement may be required.

Roles and responsibilities for activities such as backups, patching, log management, malware protection and incident management must be agreed and documented prior to the commencement of the cloud service.

Procedures must be established to ensure that activities that are irreversible in the cloud environment (e.g. deletion of virtual servers, terminating a cloud service or restoration from backups) are subject to appropriate controls to avoid error. Supervision by a second, suitably qualified person must be a stated part of such procedures.

The location of the data stored with the CSP must be understood e.g. UK, EU, USA and the applicable legal basis established, such as the country whose law applies to the contract.

Where available, multi factor authentication must be used to access all cloud services.

Sufficient audit logging must be available to allow [Organization Name] to understand the ways in which its data is being accessed and to identify whether any unauthorized access has occurred.

Confidential data stored in cloud services must be encrypted at rest and in transit using acceptable technologies and techniques. Where possible encryption keys will be held by [Organization Name] rather than the supplier.

[Organization Name] policies for the creation and management of user accounts will apply to cloud services.

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Cloud Computing Policy [Insert classification] Backups must be taken of all data stored in the cloud. This may be performed either directly by [Organization Name] or under contract by the cloud service provider.

All [Organization Name] data must be removed from cloud services in the event of a contract coming to an end for whatever reason. Data must not be stored in the cloud for longer than is necessary to deliver business processes.

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