# ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.28 — Application security requirements

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-28-application-security-requirements
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [ISO/IEC 27701:2025 PIMS Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025) › Security considerations
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**ISO/IEC 27701:2025**·Annex A `A.3.28`·high·Component: **Security considerations**

## What this control requires

> Specify info security requirements related to PII when developing/acquiring applications. Implementation: Define requirements, threat modelling, testing and acceptance criteria. Justification: Ensures applications protect PII by design.
> 
> — ISO/IEC 27701:2025, Annex A A.3.28

### In plain English

Specify info security requirements related to PII when developing/acquiring applications. In practice, this means you can prove you implement application security requirements-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

ISO 27701 is the international way to evidence the GDPR principle of accountability: certified PIMS controls translate directly into the records, contracts and rights-handling that supervisory authorities want, and into the privacy-engineering evidence SOC 2 + Privacy auditors and enterprise procurement teams ask for.

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

PIMS auditors expect ISO 27001 to be implemented first and then the 27701-additional controls tested. For PII controllers they look at lawful-basis and rights-handling evidence; for PII processors they look at customer-instructions, sub-processor controls and return/transfer/disposal evidence.

Within **Security considerations**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Annex A A.3.28) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Secure Development

**Pipeline.** Require code review, SAST (Semgrep / Snyk Code), SCA (Dependabot / Renovate), secret-scanning and IaC scanning in the merge pipeline.

**Branch protection.** Protected branches enforce reviews, signed commits and passing CI before merge; document the protection rules as the control evidence.

### Operational checklist

-   **Implement.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Define.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Ensure.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** application security requirements.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Infra Scan.** Continuous infrastructure-posture telemetry — AWS Config, Azure Policy compliance, GCP Organisation Policy, Wiz / Prisma findings.
-   **Code Repo Scan.** Source-control evidence — branch protection, required reviewers, CI status, SCA / SAST reports.
-   **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policies, procedures, and registers document the safeguard. Infrastructure posture tooling (AWS/Azure/GCP configuration, encryption, backup, logging) verifies technical enforcement. SDLC and repository gates evidence secure development. Focus: Application security requirements.

## Common pitfalls

-   CI security checks set to warn-only; the merge button is faster than the security feedback.

## 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.

-   [**CIS Controls v8 16.9** — Train Developers in Application Security Concepts and Secure Coding](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/16-9-train-developers-in-application-security-concepts-and-secure-coding)
-   [**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SA-18(1)** — Multiple Phases Of System Development Life Cycle](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-18-1-multiple-phases-of-system-development-life-cycle)
-   [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.8.28** — Secure coding](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-8-28-secure-coding)

## Related controls in ISO/IEC 27701:2025

-   [**Annex A A.3.30** — Outsourced development](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-30-outsourced-development)
-   [**Annex A A.3.31** — Test information](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-31-test-information)

## References

-   [ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27 — ISO/IEC 27701:2025](https://www.iso.org/standard/85819.html)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Annex A A.3.28`

Topics: application securitysecure developmentapi security