ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.7.8 — Equipment siting and protection

What this control requires

Equipment shall be sited securely and protected.

In plain English

Equipment shall be sited securely and protected. In practice, this means you can prove you policy management-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.

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 Physical controls, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Annex A A.7.8) 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.
• Management. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Protection. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Physical. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Equipment. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Scope: management, security.

Evidence to collect

• Policy Document. A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Equipment siting and protection.

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.

• HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.308(a)(5)(i) — Security Awareness and Training
• NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.12.1 — Security Assessment
• BSI C5:2020 SP-01 — Documentation, communication and provision of policies and instructions
• SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC2.3 — External Communication on Internal Control Matters
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 PL-2(3) — Plan And Coordinate With Other Organizational Entities

Related controls in ISO/IEC 27001:2022

• Annex A A.7.3 — Securing offices, rooms and facilities
• Annex A A.7.6 — Working in secure areas
• Annex A A.7.1 — Physical security perimeters
• Annex A A.7.9 — Security of assets off-premises
• Annex A A.7.12 — Cabling security
• Annex A A.7.14 — Secure disposal or re-use of equipment

References

• ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27 — ISO/IEC 27001:2022
• Catalogue identifier: Annex A A.7.8

Topics: governance riskphysical securitypolicy management