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Impressive Answers To Questions For ISO 27001 Lead Auditor Interview

Not just cybercriminals but even the employees of an organization must be under the radar of ISMS. Data security breaches are not just limited to external hackers. These also occur in the absence of an organization’s effective control over the sites containing confidential data. It gives a chance to employees to intentionally or accidentally meddle with others’ data. The lack of stringent measures to safeguard data privacy needs a time-to-time screening. This is executed by an ISO 27001 Lead Auditor. Such professionals are increasingly in demand these days since businesses across the world are subject to cyber threats.

A recruiter can easily tell an individual possessing ISO 27001 Lead Auditor Certification from a non-certified one. Given below are the answers to some interview questions that reflect the comprehension skills of a certified professional. Presenting the acquired knowledge just how it is needed reveals an aspirant’s eligibility for this role. Even the most knowledgeable falter during practical application of the same. One should be very clear about what is expected of him/her as an information security lead auditor. The same must get revealed in the responses to the recruiters’ questions.

Executing an ISMS audit is the job of an ISO 27001 Lead Auditor. He/she needs to know the standard audit techniques, procedures, and principles. One has to deal with asset management, and security policies related to human resources, and the physical environment.

Individuals attending ISO 27001 Lead Auditor Certification have abundant scope for employment in the telecom industry. This is one such industry that works with sensitive data on a large scale. To ensure its protection, organizations demand trained professionals best suited for this purpose.

The risk assessment criteria cover all the principles of ISO 27001 Certification. These can be brought under three categories, namely- identification, analysis, and evaluation of IT security operational defects.

ISO 27001 Certification controls the following domains:
  • Operational security
  • Access control
  • Systems maintenance, development, and purchase
  • Cryptography
  • Supplier relationships
  • Compliance
  • Staff security
  • Information security guidelines
  • Asset management

Telecom, finance, IT, and government are some of the important sectors that must become ISO 27001 Certified. It enhances the credibility of organizations belonging to these industries and helps them improve their client base.

The standards laid in the 2013 version of ISO 27001 Certification are used as information security audit criteria. Lead Auditor can elaborate on the modern concepts instilled within the ISO 27001 standard while answering this question.

ISO 27001 audit is a screening process. Lead auditors conduct it to check if an organization is making the most of its certification. This benefits the enterprise by providing complete protection against anticipated cyber attacks.

It certainly does. Background checks are done to ensure that the confidential data of an enterprise are out of unauthorized users’ access. Therefore, the standard of background screening differs with the designation. For instance, the post of the legal advisor is entitled to a relatively higher level of screening than an accountant.

The checklist for internal audit includes:
  • Taxes
  • Treasures’ report
  • Income
  • Bank reconciliation
  • Disbursements
  • Warrants
  • Receipts and vouchers

The plan drawn before an internal audit is a risk evaluation plan for determining the frequency of audits. The audit committee and the senior management of an organization are involved in drawing this plan.

‘C’ denotes confidentiality while ‘I’ represents integrity. ‘A’ signifies availability. So, availability, integrity, and confidentiality of data assets form this triangle. Integrity refers to maintaining the data as it is. Availability means providing access to data without disturbing its safety referred to as confidentiality.

The latest version of the standard includes the following changes:
  • Minor changes in Clauses 4 to 10
  • The number of controls decreased in Annex A from 114 to 93
  • Inclusion of 11 new controls in Annex A
  • Categorization of 93 controls into just 4 sections instead of 14.

Internal audit programs are meant to periodically evaluate an organization’s information security controls. Aspirants of ISO 27001 Certification have an abundant scope of employment in diverse industries where internal auditors are in demand. They are hired to ensure that the organizational data security procedures are in alignment with the ISO standards.

Large organizations with several departments often fail to lose track of ISO 27001 rules’ compliance during organizational changes. This is a pitfall that comes to a lead auditor’s notice. To maintain effective policies and their continuous observance, these audits take place.

With the increase in advanced cyberthreats, ISO 27001 needed several changes that can assist organizations in maintaining ISMS. As the information technology sector has gone through rapid developments since 2013 various businesses have found it difficult to secure their information assets. This enabled various changes in the standard, thereby entitling certified Lead Auditors to assist businesses in complying with the latest version of the standard.

As per a clause of ISO 27001 documentation, organizations must abide by ISO incident management policy in surveillance audits. This policy binds them to inform stakeholders about any security breaches that have occurred within the period of certification.

Certified Lead Auditors possess knowledge about the latest version of ISO 27001 Standard and its requirements that were published in the year 2022. The ISO 27001 Lead Auditor Certification further validates that a professional has the necessary skills to drive the audit and the audit team as per ISO 27001: 2022 Standard.

Auditors assist organizations in planning and scheduling their ISO 27001 Certification renewal. The former keeps the latter updated about this as well as the upcoming information security audit. So, an enterprise must be in constant contact with its auditors to not miss out on these incidents.

Surely, it is. Pursuing the certification allows professionals to receive the expertise and knowledge of information security screening. It involves the supervision of several aspects related to this domain. Training offers the scope of a prestigious designation to those who attend it.

First comes the audit of the entire ISO 27001 Certification which occurs during the validity period’s first year. It is followed by two surveillance audits in the 2nd and the 3rd years, respectively. The validity period is of three years.

  • Information security policies
  • Organization of information security
  • Human resource security
  • Asset management
  • Access control
  • Cryptography
  • Physical and environmental security
  • Operations security
  • Communication security
  • System acquisition development and maintenance
  • Supplier relationships
  • Information security incident management
  • Information security aspects of business continuity management
  • Compliance

There are four main audit categories for ISO 27001
  • Internal Audit
  • Certification Audit
  • Surveillance Audit
  • Recertification Audit

ISO 27001 Annex A is a table of contents listing all the security controls under ISO 27001. Depending on their risk assessment and risk management strategy, organizations can select suitable controls and determine how to implement them.

ISO 27001 Audit plan for an individual audit should include Audit objectives and scope. It should list the names and roles of the audit team members. The plan must include an audit schedule, methodology, and criteria. Additionally, it should outline the audit report's format and content, including the findings, conclusions, suggestions, and any non-conformities found during the audit.

Effective ISO 27001 audit report should contain an executive summary of the ISO 27001 audit. It should provide pertinent details regarding how the audit was carried out. The report should include nonconformities and areas where an organization's procedures fall short of the requirements of the Standard or the organization’s needs. Finally, it should outline the measures that the organization must take to eliminate compliance gaps.

  • Identify and document any non-conformities
  • Conduct a root cause analysis to understand why non-conformities
  • Schedule a management review to discuss the audit result
  • Use the audit findings as an opportunity to drive continuous improvement within the organization's ISMS

POST code refers to 'Power-On Self-Test code'. It is a diagnostic tool utilized by computer systems during the boot-up process. The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) of the computer generates the POST code to identify and diagnose hardware problems that can prevent the system from starting up properly.

The four phases of the PDCA cycle are:
  • Plan: Set goals, define processes, and create a plan.
  • Do: Implement the plan and collect data.
  • Check: Review results to evaluate results.
  • Act: Make necessary adjustments and repeat for ongoing improvement.

The key objectives of the ISO 27001 audit are to find out the issues with the ISMS. The audit should ensure the ISMS is compliant with ISO 27001 standard. Further, it should identify the potential improvements to the ISMS.

External audits include surveillance and recertification audit processes.
  • Re-certification audit is conducted every three years
  • Periodic surveillance audits are conducted every six months or at annual intervals

The following are the three different types of risks involved in an ISO 27001 Audit:
  • Control Risks
  • Detection Risk
  • Inherent Risk

External audit is an independent assessment of an organization's Information Security Management System (ISMS) to determine its compliance with the ISO 27001 standard. It verifies that the ISMS has been designed and implemented in accordance with ISO 27001 requirements.

Employers ask this question to understand the interviewee's knowledge about ISO 27001 Annex A. A.7 - Human Resource Security is dedicated to managing human resources and ensuring their security within the context of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). It includes various aspects that reduce the risk of security incidents resulting from human factors.

The following are steps involved in the ISO 27001 internal audit.
  • Documentation review
  • Evidential sampling
  • Interviewing staff with key information security responsibilities
  • Assessing the findings
  • Writing the audit report
  • Feedback and review
  • Corrective action
  • Follow up

A method for confirming the identification of users, devices, or other entities in a network or system is certificate-based authentication. It uses digital certificates to verify that the persons taking part in a communication or transaction are legitimate.

  • Context of the Organization
  • Leadership
  • Planning
  • Support
  • operation
  • Performance Evaluation
  • Improvement

  • ISO 27001 internal audit is conducted by internal auditors. These auditors are employees of the organization seeking ISO 27001 certification.
  • The external audit is conducted by third-party auditors. They are unrelated to the organization and are independent entities or auditors from certification organizations or audit firms. They carry out external audits for ISO 27001 certification to confirm a company's adherence to the standards, and if the company does, they certify them.

Different stages of an external audit are as follows:
  • Documentation Review
  • Certification Audit
  • Surveillance Audit
  • Recertification Audit

Cryptographic keys are used to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of information. There are two main types of cryptographic keys:
  • Symmetric Keys
  • Asymmetric Keys

Yes, an ISO 27001 audit helps the Lead auditor to identify risk. The audit helps identify potential information security risks and vulnerabilities, ensuring that the organization has effective risk management processes in place.