Getting your ISO 27001 certification is important so your business can demonstrate its dedication to information security, but certification does not last forever. Your business must continuously meet security standards to maintain compliance and avoid disruptions.
An expired or non-compliant certification can lead you to losing contracts, weakened client trust in your organization, and increased security risks.
ISO 27001 certification remains valid for three years, but staying certified requires regular surveillance audits to confirm that security measures remain effective.
These periodic assessments help your business identify vulnerabilities, adapt to evolving threats, and ensure long-term compliance with ISO 27001 standards. However, preparing for and managing these audits can be complex, requiring ongoing security improvements and meticulous documentation.
The good news is that your business can simplify the certification maintenance process with the right approach and expert guidance. Keep reading to learn how long ISO 27001 certification lasts, what surveillance audits involve, and how to ensure continued compliance without unnecessary stress.
What Are the Requirements for Maintaining ISO 27001 Certification?
What Happens if You Fail to Maintain ISO 27001 Certification?
Three Tips for Streamlining ISO 27001 Compliance Maintenance
Achieving ISO 27001 certification offers several significant benefits if your business handles sensitive information. By implementing a structured Information Security Management System, your business can strengthen security controls, improve operational resilience, and meet regulatory requirements.
Here’s why ISO 27001 certification matters:
ISO 27001 helps you identify, assess, and mitigate risks to your information assets. The framework requires you to establish clear security policies, conduct risk assessments, and implement controls to protect against data breaches, cyber threats, and unauthorized access.
Today’s business environment demands a strong focus on how you handle customer and partner data. Achieving ISO 27001 certification demonstrates your commitment to information security, making you more attractive to clients, investors, and business partners.
Many organizations prefer working with certified vendors, so compliance can be a key differentiator when competing for contracts or expanding into regulated industries.
ISO 27001 requires you to implement measures that ensure the availability and reliability of your information systems.
By addressing potential IT disruptions, cyber threats, and operational vulnerabilities, you can minimize downtime and maintain essential business functions. A structured ISMS also helps you proactively identify and mitigate risks before they impact operations.
Many industries must comply with strict data protection regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. ISO 27001 provides a strong security foundation that aligns with these compliance requirements, helping you reduce the risk of legal penalties, data breaches, and regulatory fines.
Implementing ISO 27001 also allows you to demonstrate due diligence in protecting sensitive data, which can be valuable in legal or contractual situations.
Your customers and stakeholders are more likely to trust you when you prioritize security. ISO 27001 certification reassures them that you have robust security controls in place to protect their data from unauthorized access, misuse, or loss.
By demonstrating compliance with internationally recognized security standards, you can build stronger customer relationships and improve retention rates.
With these benefits in mind, how long does your ISO 27001 certification last?
Once you achieve ISO 27001 certification, it remains valid for three years from the date of issue. However, keeping your certification requires ongoing improvements and strict adherence to security controls.
To stay compliant, you’ll need to go through annual surveillance audits and a full recertification audit at the end of the three-year cycle.
Certification bodies conduct annual surveillance audits to make sure your Information Security Management System remains effective.
These audits aren’t as in-depth as the initial certification audit, but they still require a thorough review of your security practices. During a surveillance audit, the auditor will:
Failing a surveillance audit won’t immediately revoke your certification, but unresolved issues can lead to nonconformities that must be corrected within a set timeframe. More details on this are covered below.
At the end of the three-year certification cycle, you’ll need to complete a recertification audit to maintain your ISO 27001 compliance. This process is similar to the initial certification audit and involves a full reassessment of your ISMS to confirm it still meets ISO 27001 standards.
To prepare for recertification, you should:
Successfully completing the recertification audit extends your ISO 27001 certification for another three years, reinforcing your ongoing commitment to information security and regulatory compliance.
To maintain certification, you’ll need to meet specific requirements, which are explained further below.
Maintaining your ISO 27001 certification means continuously monitoring, reviewing, and improving your security management system. Compliance requires ongoing audits, management oversight, risk assessments, and employee awareness to ensure your security measures remain effective and aligned with your business goals.
To keep your certification, you’ll need to meet four key requirements:
ISO 27001 requires you to maintain continuous compliance, meaning you must regularly review and update your security framework to adapt to new threats, operational changes, and evolving risks. This includes:
Each year, an accredited certification body will conduct a surveillance audit to ensure you’re staying compliant. While these audits aren’t as extensive as the initial certification, they are essential for maintaining your certification. During the audit, auditors will:
If you fail a surveillance audit, you’ll receive a nonconformity report and must correct any issues within a given timeframe to keep your certification.
You’ll also need to conduct internal audits and management reviews to stay compliant with ISO 27001.
Regular internal audits help you identify security weaknesses before an external audit, reducing the risk of certification suspension. An effective internal audit should:
While annual internal audits are the standard, businesses in high-risk industries may benefit from more frequent reviews.
Top management also plays a role in keeping your certification. Regular management reviews help ensure your security framework aligns with your business needs and risk environment.
During a management review, leadership should:
At the end of the three-year certification cycle, you’ll need to complete a recertification audit to maintain your compliance.
Keeping this in mind, what happens if you fail to maintain ISO 27001 certification?
Keeping your ISO 27001 certification is an ongoing commitment. It requires you to continuously monitor, update, and improve your security framework.
Failing to meet the standard’s requirements can lead to compliance violations, reputational damage, and potential business losses.
If you don’t consistently follow your security policies and procedures, you risk falling out of compliance with ISO 27001. This can happen due to:
If you’re found non-compliant, your certification body may:
Losing ISO 27001 certification can also expose you to legal and regulatory risks. If a security incident or data breach happens while you're out of compliance, you may:
Losing your certification can also hurt your business. Many organizations, especially those in regulated industries, require vendors and partners to be ISO 27001 certified. If you fail to maintain compliance, you could face:
To avoid these risks, you should make ongoing compliance a priority by:
Maintaining your ISO 27001 certification comes with ongoing costs that you’ll need to factor into your budget. While the initial certification requires a significant investment, you’ll also need to plan for annual surveillance audits, recertification audits, and internal resource costs to stay compliant.
Each year, you’ll undergo a surveillance audit to ensure your security framework remains effective and meets ISO 27001 standards. The cost of these audits depends on factors like your company size, the scope of your security program, and certification body fees.
Surveillance audits typically range between $5,000 and $20,000 per year. These fees cover auditor time, travel expenses, and administrative costs. If any nonconformities are found, you may also need to budget for remediation expenses.
At the end of the three-year certification cycle, you’ll need to complete a recertification audit. This is more in-depth than a surveillance audit and requires a full reassessment of your security measures.
Recertification audits usually cost between $10,000 and $40,000 or more, depending on your organization’s size and complexity. Costs typically include auditor fees, travel expenses, and administrative charges from your certification body.
Preparing for recertification may also require internal audits, security updates, and corrective actions, all of which can add to your total costs.
Beyond audit fees, maintaining ISO 27001 certification requires an ongoing investment in security management, training, and operational resources. Key costs to consider include:
You can minimize unexpected costs by taking a proactive approach to ISO 27001 compliance. To stay ahead, consider:
Keeping your ISO 27001 certification requires ongoing effort, but with the right approach, you can make the process more efficient. By reducing manual workload, improving security oversight, and simplifying compliance management, you can ensure that maintaining certification doesn’t become overwhelming.
Your employees play a crucial role in maintaining security compliance, so ongoing security awareness training is essential. Instead of relying on generic courses, tailor training to specific roles and responsibilities.
Interactive methods, like phishing simulations and real-world case studies, help reinforce security best practices. Regular refresher sessions also keep security top of mind and reduce the risk of human error leading to compliance failures.
If you don’t have dedicated internal compliance resources, working with an experienced compliance provider can simplify ISO 27001 maintenance. Experts like BEMO specialize in helping businesses achieve and sustain compliance by offering security monitoring, audit preparation, and expert guidance.
A knowledgeable partner can assist with gap assessments, policy development, and ongoing security management, allowing your internal team to focus on core business functions.
Manually managing ISO 27001 compliance can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Compliance automation tools can streamline essential tasks like policy management, risk assessment tracking, and audit documentation.
When choosing a compliance tool, look for solutions designed specifically for ISO 27001 that integrate with your existing IT systems. A centralized dashboard for tracking compliance status and generating reports makes it easier to stay audit-ready while freeing up internal resources for higher-value security initiatives.
BEMO makes the ISO 27001 certification process faster and easier, no matter the size of your business. The platform automates key compliance tasks, removing complexity and cutting down on the time and resources typically required.
With BEMO, you can track your progress, spot any gaps, and manage the entire certification process from a user-friendly interface. BEMO also offers penetration testing and coordinates with auditors, so you can stay focused on running your business while efficiently achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 compliance.
Here’s how BEMO helps you get ISO 27001 certified:
Maintaining ISO 27001 certification takes ongoing effort, but the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Staying compliant helps you reduce security risks, build trust with clients, meet regulatory requirements, and strengthen operational resilience.
While maintaining certification requires regular audits, employee training, and continuous security improvements, these efforts help you stay competitive and avoid costly penalties.
If you let your certification lapse, you risk losing business contracts, facing regulatory fines, and damaging your reputation.
However, with the right planning, automation tools, and expert support, compliance becomes much more manageable. In the long run, maintaining ISO 27001 certification is a worthwhile investment that ensures long-term security, compliance, and business success.
BEMO provides expert compliance support to help you keep your certification valid and your security framework strong. Book a call today to streamline your compliance journey with BEMO.
Absolutely. ISO 27001 requires organizations to assess and monitor third-party security risks, ensuring that vendors handling sensitive data meet compliance standards and follow security best practices.
If a company expands its infrastructure, services, or locations, the ISMS must be updated to reflect these changes. This may require modifying risk assessments, updating security policies, and potentially undergoing an interim audit.
ISO 27001 establishes clear guidelines for incident response, requiring businesses to have a documented plan, perform root cause analysis, and implement corrective actions to prevent recurring security incidents.
Yes, ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized security standard that demonstrates compliance with global information security best practices, making it valuable for organizations operating across multiple countries.
Yes, ISO 27001 can be integrated with GDPR, HIPAA, NIST, and PCI DSS compliance programs, allowing businesses to align security controls and streamline compliance efforts across multiple regulations.