Standards Comparison

    ISO 19600

    Voluntary
    2014

    Guidelines for establishing compliance management systems

    VS

    ISO 27017

    Voluntary
    2015

    Code of practice for cloud information security controls

    Quick Verdict

    ISO 19600 provides guidelines for Compliance Management Systems across all organizations, while ISO 27017 extends ISO 27001 with cloud-specific security controls. Companies adopt 19600 for general compliance frameworks and 27017 to address cloud risks securely.

    Compliance Management

    ISO 19600

    ISO 19600:2014 Compliance management systems — Guidelines

    Cost
    €€€
    Complexity
    Medium
    Implementation Time
    6-12 months

    Key Features

    • Risk-based approach to compliance management
    • Principles of good governance and proportionality
    • Annex SL high-level structure for integration
    • PDCA cycle for continuous improvement
    • Scalable guidelines for all organization sizes
    Cloud Security

    ISO 27017

    ISO/IEC 27017:2015 Cloud security code of practice

    Cost
    €€€
    Complexity
    Medium
    Implementation Time
    6-12 months

    Key Features

    • Clarifies shared responsibilities between CSPs and CSCs
    • Adds 7 cloud-specific CLD controls for multi-tenancy
    • Provides guidance on 37 ISO 27002 cloud adaptations
    • Addresses VM hardening and segregation controls
    • Enables customer monitoring of cloud service activities

    Detailed Analysis

    A comprehensive look at the specific requirements, scope, and impact of each standard.

    ISO 19600 Details

    What It Is

    ISO 19600:2014 — Compliance management systems — Guidelines is a Type B guidance standard from the International Organization for Standardization. It provides recommendations for establishing, implementing, evaluating, maintaining, and improving a Compliance Management System (CMS). The risk-based approach uses Annex SL high-level structure with ten clauses, applicable to all organizations.

    Key Components

    • Core principles: good governance, proportionality, transparency, sustainability.
    • Pillars: context, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation, improvement.
    • PDCA cycle for integration with standards like ISO 9001, 14001.
    • Non-certifiable benchmarking model.

    Why Organizations Use It

    • Mitigates legal, regulatory, reputational risks; reduces penalties.
    • Enhances decision-making, efficiency (10-20% cost savings), market access.
    • Builds stakeholder trust, culture of integrity; future-proofs for ISO 37301.

    Implementation Overview

    • **Phased roadmapleadership commitment, gap analysis, design, rollout, continuous improvement.
    • Scalable for SMEs to multinationals, all sectors/geographies.
    • No certification; self-benchmarking via internal audits.

    ISO 27017 Details

    What It Is

    ISO/IEC 27017:2015 is a code of practice extending ISO/IEC 27002 with cloud-specific guidance. It provides implementation advice for information security controls in cloud services, focusing on shared responsibilities, multi-tenancy, and virtualization. Adopts a risk-based approach within an ISO 27001 ISMS.

    Key Components

    • Guidance for 37 ISO 27002 controls adapted to cloud contexts.
    • 7 additional CLD cloud-specific controls (e.g., responsibility delineation, VM configuration, segregation, customer monitoring).
    • Built on ISO 27001 framework; assessed via integrated audits, not standalone certification.

    Why Organizations Use It

    • Meets procurement and regulatory demands (e.g., GDPR alignment).
    • Clarifies CSP/CSC roles, reducing cloud risks.
    • Enhances trust, competitive differentiation for CSPs/CSCs.
    • Supports multi-cloud strategies and incident reduction.

    Implementation Overview

    • Integrate into existing ISO 27001 ISMS via risk assessment.
    • Key activities: control mapping, configuration hardening, shared responsibility matrices.
    • Applicable to CSPs/CSCs of all sizes/industries using cloud; joint audits (9-12 months).

    Key Differences

    Scope

    ISO 19600
    Compliance Management Systems (CMS)
    ISO 27017
    Cloud-specific information security controls

    Industry

    ISO 19600
    All sectors, all sizes globally
    ISO 27017
    Cloud providers and users globally

    Nature

    ISO 19600
    Type B guidelines, non-certifiable
    ISO 27017
    Code of practice, ISO 27001 extension

    Testing

    ISO 19600
    Internal audits, management reviews
    ISO 27017
    ISO 27001 audits with cloud controls

    Penalties

    ISO 19600
    No formal penalties
    ISO 27017
    No direct penalties, certification loss

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Common questions about ISO 19600 and ISO 27017

    ISO 19600 FAQ

    ISO 27017 FAQ

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