ISO 27001 Access Control Review

Who has access to your organisation's systems, applications and information - and do they still need it?

Access permissions can quickly become outdated as employees change roles, new staff join, contractors are appointed and people leave the business. Over time, users may accumulate permissions they no longer require, administrator accounts may remain active and access reviews can be overlooked.

For organisations maintaining ISO 27001 certification, effective access control is an important part of managing information security risks and demonstrating that appropriate controls are operating.

ID Risk and Compliance provides ISO 27001 access control review support to help organisations assess user permissions, identify weaknesses, review access management processes and maintain suitable evidence for internal and external audits.

Why access control reviews matter

Access control is about ensuring that the right people have access to the right information and systems, for the right reasons.

When access permissions are not properly managed, organisations can expose themselves to unnecessary information security risks. Former employees may retain accounts, staff may have access beyond their responsibilities, and privileged accounts may be allocated without sufficient oversight.

Even where technical security controls are effective, weak access management processes can undermine the wider information security management system (ISMS).

Regular access reviews help organisations identify these weaknesses, confirm that permissions remain appropriate and demonstrate that access is being actively managed.

ISO 27001 access control requirements

ISO 27001:2022 includes several Annex A controls relevant to access management.

These include:

A.5.15 – Access control: Establishing and implementing appropriate access control rules.
A.5.16 – Identity management: Managing identities throughout their lifecycle.
A.5.17 – Authentication information: Controlling the allocation and management of authentication information.
A.5.18 – Access rights: Managing the provision, review, modification and removal of access rights.
A.8.2 – Privileged access rights: Restricting and managing elevated permissions.

These controls help organisations establish a structured approach to managing who can access information and associated systems.

Where applicable, the organisation should be able to demonstrate that its access management arrangements are suitable, implemented and supported by appropriate evidence.

What an ISO 27001 access control review includes

An access control review examines whether permissions are appropriate and whether the processes used to manage them are operating effectively.

Depending on your organisation, this may involve reviewing:

User account registers and access permissions
Joiner, mover and leaver arrangements
Administrator and privileged accounts
Access approval and authorisation records
Periodic user access reviews
Third-party and contractor access
Shared and service accounts
Access removal and modification records
Evidence retained for ISO 27001 audits

The review can also assess whether responsibilities are clearly defined, whether access reviews take place at appropriate intervals and whether identified issues are being resolved.

The aim is to provide practical assurance without unnecessarily complicating your existing processes.

Reviewing joiner, mover and leaver processes

Changes in employment or responsibilities are common causes of access control weaknesses.

When someone joins an organisation, their access should be appropriate to their role. When they move internally, permissions may need to be amended. When they leave, access should be removed in accordance with the organisation's requirements.

In practice, these processes are not always consistently followed.

For example, an employee moving from finance to operations may retain access to financial systems. A contractor completing a short-term project may continue to hold an active account. An employee leaving the business may still have access to a third-party application that was not included in the offboarding checklist.

An access control review can identify these gaps and help strengthen the processes used to manage changes.

Checking privileged access rights

Privileged accounts can provide extensive control over systems, applications and information.

These accounts may allow users to change configurations, create new accounts, modify permissions or access sensitive information. As a result, they require particular attention.

An ISO 27001 privileged access review can assess whether elevated permissions are appropriately authorised, limited to those who need them and periodically reviewed.

It may also identify unnecessary administrator rights, shared privileged accounts, outdated permissions or insufficient evidence of approval.

This is particularly relevant where organisations rely on outsourced IT providers, cloud platforms or multiple business applications.

Maintaining evidence for ISO 27001 audits

One of the most common access management weaknesses is a lack of evidence.

An organisation may carry out access reviews informally, but if there is no record of what was checked, who approved the results or what actions were taken, it can be difficult to demonstrate that the process is working.

ISO 27001 auditors may request examples of access approvals, user access reviews, leaver records, privileged account controls and corrective actions.

ID Risk and Compliance can help assess whether your evidence is sufficient, identify missing records and recommend practical improvements to how access reviews are documented.

This helps make access control easier to demonstrate during certification, surveillance and recertification audits.

Making access reviews more manageable

Access control reviews do not need to become an unnecessarily complicated administrative exercise.

For many businesses, a straightforward, risk-based process can provide meaningful assurance.

This might involve identifying critical systems, assigning appropriate reviewers, checking current permissions against business requirements, recording decisions and following up any unnecessary access.

The frequency and depth of reviews should reflect the organisation's risks, systems and working arrangements.

Where specialist IT input is needed, ID Risk and Compliance can work alongside your internal team or external IT provider to coordinate the review and assess the compliance evidence.

Who this service is for

ISO 27001 access control reviews are suitable for organisations that already hold certification, are preparing for certification or want greater confidence in their access management arrangements.

The service is particularly useful where:

User access reviews have not been completed recently.
Staff roles or organisational structures have changed.
The business has introduced new cloud services.
Privileged permissions have not been independently reviewed.
Previous audits have identified access control weaknesses.
Access management evidence is difficult to locate.
An ISO 27001 external audit is approaching.

It can also provide reassurance where access management is handled by an outsourced IT provider but the organisation retains responsibility for demonstrating suitable information security controls.

How ID Risk and Compliance can help

ID Risk and Compliance provides practical ISO 27001 access control review support to help organisations understand whether their access management arrangements are effective and properly evidenced.

We can review existing processes, examine access review records, identify compliance gaps, assess privileged access arrangements and recommend improvements.

We can also support the development of straightforward access review procedures and help organisations maintain evidence as part of their ongoing ISO 27001 compliance activities.

Our focus is on making access management proportionate, practical and aligned with the requirements of your ISMS.

Need an independent ISO 27001 access control review?

If your organisation needs help reviewing user permissions, checking access management evidence or preparing for an upcoming ISO 27001 audit, ID Risk and Compliance can help.