ISO 27001 Annex A 5.23: Information security for use of cloud services

What auditors look for

Auditors check that 5.23 is either justified as not applicable in your Statement of Applicability or implemented and working. Typical evidence includes:

• Cloud service inventory
• Cloud security configuration standards
• Exit plans for critical cloud services

How to implement 5.23 in practice

1. Understand the shared responsibility model for each service
2. Apply secure baseline configurations
3. Plan data export and exit before you need it
4. Name an owner for 5.23, decide how often it runs and file evidence each time, so the control is audit-ready all year.

Recording 5.23 in the Statement of Applicability

List 5.23 with whether it applies, the reason (usually the risks it treats or a legal or contractual requirement), its implementation status and where the evidence lives. If you exclude it, explain why none of your risks or obligations require it.

Free resources

• Vendor security questionnaire template
• ISO 27001 and GDPR readiness assessment
• 10 steps to implement ISO 27001
• Remote ISO 27001 consultant

More organizational controls

• 5.19 Information security in supplier relationships
• 5.20 Addressing information security within supplier agreements
• 5.21 Managing information security in the ICT supply chain
• 5.22 Monitoring, review and change management of supplier services
• 5.24 Information security incident management planning and preparation
• 5.25 Assessment and decision on information security events
• 5.26 Response to information security incidents
• 5.27 Learning from information security incidents