ISO 27001 Control 5.24: Information Security Incident Management Planning and Preparation
Information security incidents are inevitable—what matters is being prepared. Control 5.24 requires organizations to establish documented incident management processes before a breach occurs. This control ensures your team knows exactly what to do when security incidents happen, minimizing damage and response time.
What this means
Control 5.24 mandates that your organization create and communicate a formal incident management framework before incidents occur. This means defining clear processes for detecting, reporting, responding to, and recovering from security incidents. It requires assigning specific roles and responsibilities so every team member understands their part in incident response. The control emphasizes preparation and planning rather than reactive firefighting.
How to comply
- 1.Document your incident management policy that defines what constitutes a security incident and the organization's response approach
- 2.Establish incident management procedures covering detection, reporting, containment, eradication, and recovery phases
- 3.Define clear roles and responsibilities for incident response team members, including incident commander, technical responders, and communication leads
- 4.Create escalation procedures that specify when and how incidents move from routine to critical status
- 5.Develop communication templates for internal notification and external disclosure requirements
- 6.Conduct incident response training and tabletop exercises at least annually
- 7.Maintain an incident log to track all reported incidents and response actions
- 8.Review and update incident management processes based on lessons learned from past incidents
Evidence auditors look for
- Documented incident management policy approved by management
- Incident response procedures manual with defined workflows
- Incident response team charter with assigned roles and responsibilities
- Contact list for incident response team members with escalation procedures
- Incident reporting form or ticketing system template
- Training records showing staff completed incident response training
- Incident log or register documenting reported incidents and actions taken
- After-action reviews or lessons learned documents from past incidents
- Tabletop exercise reports demonstrating incident response readiness
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
GRCWatch automates incident documentation and tracking, maintaining your audit-ready incident log while providing templates that align with ISO 27001 5.24 requirements—eliminating the manual spreadsheet approach.
See how GRCWatch handles this control automatically
Start free trial