ISO/IEC 27001:2022 · Organizational control
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.6: Contact with special interest groups
Quick answer
ISO 27001 Annex A 5.6 (Contact with special interest groups) is an organizational control. Maintain links with security forums, professional bodies and information-sharing groups to stay informed about threats and good practice.
What auditors look for
Auditors check that 5.6 is either justified as not applicable in your Statement of Applicability or implemented and working. Typical evidence includes:
- Memberships or subscriptions list
- Advisories received and acted on
- Notes from forums or ISAC briefings
How to implement 5.6 in practice
- Subscribe to national CERT advisories
- Join a sector information-sharing group if one exists
- Route useful intelligence into risk and vulnerability processes
- Name an owner for 5.6, decide how often it runs and file evidence each time, so the control is audit-ready all year.
Recording 5.6 in the Statement of Applicability
List 5.6 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
More organizational controls
- 5.2 Information security roles and responsibilities
- 5.3 Segregation of duties
- 5.4 Management responsibilities
- 5.5 Contact with authorities
- 5.7 Threat intelligence
- 5.8 Information security in project management
- 5.9 Inventory of information and other associated assets
- 5.10 Acceptable use of information and other associated assets