A.5.19·high·Component: Organizational controlsWhat this control requires
Processes and procedures shall be defined and implemented to manage the information security risks associated with the use of supplier's products or services.
In plain English
Processes and procedures shall be defined and implemented to manage the information security risks associated with the use of supplier's products or services. In practice, this means you can prove you policy information security-level controls on a defined cadence.
Why it matters
ISO 27001 certification depends on showing each Annex A control is either implemented or explicitly justified for exclusion in the Statement of Applicability (SoA). Certification bodies sample controls during surveillance audits, and a missing SoA entry — or implementation that doesn't match the SoA wording — is a finding.
This control is rated high. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation.
What an auditor looks for
An ISO 27001 lead auditor looks for: (1) an SoA entry covering the control with justification, (2) a documented procedure or policy implementing it, (3) records that prove the procedure runs (logs, tickets, training records) and (4) management-review evidence that effectiveness is monitored.
Within Organizational controls, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Annex A A.5.19) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.
How to implement
Policy Management
Docs. Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA.
Operational checklist
- Policy. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
- Information. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
- Management. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
- Security. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
- Scope: information security, management, services.
Evidence to collect
- Vendor Risk Management.
vendor_risk_managementevidence - Policy Document. A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.
Third-party risk management evidence (assessments, contracts, due diligence) shows supplier oversight. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Information security in supplier relationships.
Common pitfalls
- Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.
How it maps to other frameworks
Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.
- NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.16.3 — External System Services
- ISO/IEC 42001:2023 A.10.2 — Allocation of responsibilities
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SA-12 — Supply Chain Protection
- SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC9.2 — Vendor Risk Management
- BSI C5:2020 OIS-03 — Interfaces and Dependencies
Related controls in ISO/IEC 27001:2022
- Annex A A.5.22 — Monitoring, review and change management of supplier services
- Annex A A.5.21 — Managing information security in the ICT supply chain
- Annex A A.5.20 — Addressing information security within supplier agreements
- Annex A A.5.1 — Policies for information security
- Annex A A.5.4 — Management responsibilities
- Annex A A.5.12 — Classification of information
References
- ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27 — ISO/IEC 27001:2022
- Catalogue identifier:
Annex A A.5.19
Topics: governance riskvendor riskvendor managementsupply chain securitypolicy managementthird party monitoring