ISO 27001 Control 5.14: Information Transfer

What this means

This control mandates that your organization establish and maintain clear policies, procedures, and formal agreements for every type of information transfer. Whether data moves internally between departments, to cloud providers, via email, through APIs, or to business partners, you need documented rules covering what can be transferred, how it should be protected, and who has authority to approve transfers. These rules must apply uniformly across all transfer methods and recipient types.

How to comply

1. 1.Identify all information transfer methods and paths within and outside your organization (email, APIs, file transfers, cloud sync, physical media, etc.)
2. 2.Develop written information transfer policies specifying classification levels, approved recipients, and security requirements for each transfer type
3. 3.Create formal data transfer agreements with external parties defining responsibilities, security controls, and permitted uses
4. 4.Document procedures for approving and authorizing information transfers, including who can approve and under what conditions
5. 5.Implement technical controls ensuring transfers use encryption, secure channels, and verification mechanisms
6. 6.Establish procedures for monitoring, logging, and auditing all information transfers to detect anomalies or violations
7. 7.Train personnel on transfer policies and procedures, particularly those handling sensitive or classified information
8. 8.Review and update transfer agreements and policies annually or when business relationships change

Evidence auditors look for

• Information Transfer Policy document outlining all transfer methods, classifications, and security requirements
• Data Transfer Agreements signed with cloud providers, vendors, and business partners
• Transfer Authorization Forms showing approval chains and decision records
• Email security policies restricting external sharing and requiring encryption for sensitive data
• API documentation and contracts defining data transfer formats, security protocols, and access controls
• Physical media transfer procedures including encryption, courier requirements, and delivery tracking
• Transfer audit logs showing encrypted connections, failed transfer attempts, and approval timestamps
• Personnel training records confirming staff understand transfer policies and procedures

Frequently asked questions

GRCWatch automates documentation of all information transfer paths, generates compliance-ready data transfer agreements tailored to your vendors, and maintains audit logs proving transfer controls are active and monitored.

See how GRCWatch handles this control automatically

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