7 Urgent Steps for ISO 27001:2022 Transition

Context: With the October 31, 2025 transition deadline just days away, this ISO 27001:2022 transition remediation playbook focuses on fast, defensible action: triage the biggest pentest and control gaps, implement Annex A fixes, and generate audit-ready evidence your external auditor can trust.

Use this if you need to:

• Turn recent pentest findings into pass/fail-proof control changes.
• Produce screenshots, logs, change tickets, and config diffs—in 72 hours.
• Map everything to Annex A controls and your Statement of Applicability (SoA).
• Close the loop with a focused retest and a clean evidence trail.

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For deeper help after reading, see our ISO 27001 Risk Assessment Services and ISO 27001 Remediation Services.

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The 72-Hour “Evidence Sprint” for ISO 27001:2022 Transition (Day 0–3)

Goal: For every fix, you’ll capture what changed and proof it’s enforced.

1. Create an Evidence Vault (timestamped):

• Tickets: change request, CAB approvals, assignees, due dates.
• Configs: “before & after” diffs, PRs/commits, Ansible/Terraform runs.
• Logs: authentication, admin actions, IDS/WAF blocks, rotation events.
• Screenshots: admin UI settings, SoA updates, asset inventory view.
• Retest artifacts: short pentest/scan report referencing the fix.

Deliverable: A zip for each control: A.<section>-<control>-<short_name>-YYYYMMDD.zip placed in /evidence/ISO27001-2025/.

Starter script (Bash) to build the Evidence Vault):

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

TS=$(date +"%Y%m%d-%H%M%S")
ROOT="/evidence/ISO27001-2025/$TS"
mkdir -p "$ROOT"/{tickets,configs_before,configs_after,logs,screenshots,retest}

# Example ticket export (Jira Cloud) – replace JQL & auth
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $JIRA_TOKEN" \
  "https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/search?jql=project=ISO AND status=Done AND updated >= -3d" \
  | jq '.' > "$ROOT/tickets/jira_export.json"

# Gather config snapshots
cp /etc/ssh/sshd_config "$ROOT/configs_after/sshd_config.after"
git show HEAD~1:/etc/ssh/sshd_config > "$ROOT/configs_before/sshd_config.before" || true
diff -u "$ROOT/configs_before/sshd_config.before" "$ROOT/configs_after/sshd_config.after" \
  > "$ROOT/configs_after/sshd_config.diff" || true

# Logs (last 72h)
journalctl --since "72 hours ago" > "$ROOT/logs/systemd-72h.log"
grep -Ei "auth|sudo|pam|mfa|vpn" /var/log/auth.log | tail -n 2000 > "$ROOT/logs/auth-mfa.log"

# Package per-control (example for A.8.3 Secure Authentication)
tar -czf "/evidence/ISO27001-2025/A.8.3-secure-auth-$TS.tgz" -C "$ROOT" .
echo "Evidence packs ready in /evidence/ISO27001-2025"

Evidence naming tip: Match each zip to a SoA line so auditors can cross-reference instantly.

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Triage: Prioritize High-Risk Gaps (Today)

Focus on the controls that most often create audit findings and real attacks:

• Risk Assessment (ISMS core) → ensure risk register, methodology, and SoA mapping are current.
• Asset Inventory & Ownership → make internet-facing & privileged-access assets crystal-clear.
• Access Control & MFA → enforce admin MFA and least privilege—now.
• Supplier Oversight → contracts + security clauses, plus evidence of monitoring.

If you want structured help to prioritize and assign owners with due dates, our Risk Assessment Services page shows how we turn this into a concrete plan.

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Quick Wins You Can Ship Before Friday

1) Enforce MFA on Admin Access (A.8.3)

AWS IAM policy snippet denying risky actions unless MFA is present:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [{
    "Sid": "DenyWithoutMFA",
    "Effect": "Deny",
    "Action": "*",
    "Resource": "*",
    "Condition": { "BoolIfExists": { "aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent": "false" } }
  }]
}

Azure AD (Entra) conditional access outline (PowerShell):

# Requires Microsoft.Graph module and admin consent
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Policy.ReadWrite.ConditionalAccess","Directory.Read.All"
# Example: create a policy requiring MFA for Directory Roles (Admins)
# Pseudocode: use New-MgIdentityConditionalAccessPolicy with conditions
# IncludeRoles: "Global Administrator","Privileged Role Administrator"
# GrantControls: BuiltInControls "mfa"

Linux SSH hardening (/etc/ssh/sshd_config):

PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes
PermitRootLogin no
MaxAuthTries 3
AuthenticationMethods publickey,keyboard-interactive:pam

Restart SSH and capture a screenshot of the setting + the systemctl status ssh output for the evidence pack.

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2) Lock Down Public Endpoints (A.8.20 / A.8.21)

Nginx allow-list for admin paths:

location /admin {
    allow 10.8.0.0/24;   # VPN CIDR
    deny all;
    auth_basic "Restricted";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
}

Security Group lockdown (AWS CLI example):

# Replace with your SG and VPN CIDR; close 22/3389 to public, restrict to VPN
aws ec2 revoke-security-group-ingress --group-id sg-123 --protocol tcp --port 22 --cidr 0.0.0.0/0
aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress --group-id sg-123 --protocol tcp --port 22 --cidr 10.8.0.0/24

Quick validation script (nmap sweep):

#!/usr/bin/env bash
INPUT="assets_public.txt"   # list of IPs/hosts
while read -r host; do
  nmap -Pn -p 22,80,443,3389,5432,27017 --script=banner "$host" -oN "nmap-$host.txt"
done < "$INPUT"

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3) Rotate Exposed or Stale Secrets (A.8.32)

GitHub Actions (nightly secret rotation – outline):

name: rotate-secrets
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 2 * * *"
jobs:
  rotate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Generate new token
        run: ./scripts/rotate_token.sh > new_token.txt
      - name: Set repo secret
        run: gh secret set APP_TOKEN < new_token.txt

AWS Secrets Manager rotation hook (Python template):

# Lambda handler skeleton for rotating a DB password
def rotate_secret(event, context):
    step = event["Step"]
    if step == "createSecret":
        # generate, store, and tag version as AWSPENDING
        pass
    elif step == "setSecret":
        # apply pending secret to target DB
        pass
    elif step == "testSecret":
        # attempt DB auth; raise on failure
        pass
    elif step == "finishSecret":
        # promote AWSPENDING -> AWSCURRENT
        pass

Evidence: ticket + commit showing rotation, screenshot of the new secret’s last rotated timestamp, and DB login test logs.

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Validate Fixes with a Focused Retest (Today +2)

Run a small, targeted retest against the exact controls you changed. For a quick check on your public surface, use our Free Website Vulnerability Scanner to validate headers, TLS, and common exposures—then attach a screenshot of the summary and top findings to your evidence pack. (Link on your site’s navigation as “Run free website security check”.)

What to screenshot from the tool:

• Scan summary with target URL and timestamp
• Overall risk level and count of issues
• Top 5 findings with “how to fix”

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Map Fixes to Annex A Controls (and Your SoA)

Use this evidence matrix to link requirement → fix → artifact:

Annex A (2022)	Requirement (short)	Fix implemented	Artifact(s)	Owner	Date
A.5 Organizational	Supplier security in contracts	Added security clauses + right-to-audit	Contract_v3.pdf, ticket #ISO-127	Legal	2025-10-27
A.6 People	Admin training	Role-based access training for new admins	LMS-Report-Oct.pdf, 8 completions	HR	2025-10-27
A.7 Physical	Server room access	Updated badge rules + quarterly review	Access-List.csv, screenshot	IT	2025-10-26
A.8 Technological	MFA for admin	Conditional Access + IAM deny-without-MFA	Policy JSON, CA screenshot, logs	SecOps	2025-10-26

Auto-create the matrix CSV (Python):

import csv, datetime
rows = [
  ["A.5", "Supplier security in contracts", "Added security clauses + right-to-audit",
   "Contract_v3.pdf; ticket ISO-127", "Legal", "2025-10-27"],
  ["A.6", "Admin training", "Role-based admin training in LMS",
   "LMS-Report-Oct.pdf; screenshot", "HR", "2025-10-27"],
  ["A.7", "Server room access", "Badge rule updated; quarterly review",
   "Access-List.csv; door-log.png", "IT", "2025-10-26"],
  ["A.8", "MFA for admin", "CA policy + IAM deny-without-MFA",
   "policy.json; CA.png; cloudtrail.log", "SecOps", "2025-10-26"]
]
with open("iso27001-evidence-matrix.csv","w",newline="") as f:
    writer = csv.writer(f)
    writer.writerow(["Annex A (2022)","Requirement (short)","Fix implemented","Artifact(s)","Owner","Date"])
    writer.writerows(rows)
print("Wrote iso27001-evidence-matrix.csv")

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Close the Loop: Escalate Remaining Items into an ISO-Aligned Backlog

Not everything ships in a week. Push the rest into a time-boxed backlog mapped to ISO 27001 categories and your roadmap.

Sample Jira task (JSON) you can import via API):

{
  "fields": {
    "project": { "key": "ISO" },
    "summary": "A.8.23: Web app hardening (WAF + headers + rate limits)",
    "description": "Implement WAF ruleset + strict security headers; attach retest evidence.",
    "issuetype": { "name": "Task" },
    "labels": ["ISO27001-2022","AnnexA-A8","remediation"],
    "duedate": "2025-11-15",
    "assignee": { "name": "secops.lead" },
    "customfield_soa": "A.8.23"
  }
}

Backlog buckets to use right now:

• A.5 Organizational – policies, supplier agreements, roles & responsibilities
• A.6 People – awareness, onboarding, admin training
• A.7 Physical – access control, visitor management
• A.8 Technological – hardening, network security, identity, logging, backup

When you need hands-on help implementing and producing audit-proof artifacts, our ISO 27001 Remediation Services team steps in and drives the fixes with you.

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Real-Time Fix Patterns (Copy/Paste)

Access Control: enumerate and clean local admins (Windows)

Get-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" |
  Where-Object {$_.ObjectClass -eq "User"} |
  Select-Object Name, PrincipalSource |
  Tee-Object -FilePath ".\admins-before.csv"

# Remove unexpected accounts
"corp\temp.admin","corp\legacy.svc" | ForEach-Object { Remove-LocalGroupMember Administrators $_ -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }

Get-LocalGroupMember Administrators |
  Select-Object Name, PrincipalSource |
  Export-Csv ".\admins-after.csv" -NoTypeInformation

Logging: enable Linux auditd rules for admin actions

apt-get update && apt-get install -y auditd
cat <<'AUD' >/etc/audit/rules.d/admin.rules
-w /etc/sudoers -p wa -k sudoers
-w /etc/ssh/sshd_config -p wa -k sshd_config
-a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -C uid!=euid -k suid_exec
AUD
augenrules --load && systemctl restart auditd

Web hardening: strict headers (Nginx)

add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always;
add_header Referrer-Policy "no-referrer" always;
add_header Permissions-Policy "geolocation=(), camera=()" always;
add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none'; object-src 'none';" always;

Backups: prove restorability (scripted test)

# Example: nightly DB dump + restore test in staging namespace
pg_dump "$PROD_DSN" > /backups/prod-$(date +%F).sql
createdb test_restore_$(date +%s)
psql test_restore_* < /backups/prod-$(date +%F).sql
echo "Restore test OK on $(date)" >> /evidence/backup-restore.log

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Sample report from the tool to check Websiite Vulnerability

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Internal Links You’ll Want Handy

• ISO 27001 Risk Assessment Services – formalize risk, SoA, and a prioritized plan.
• ISO 27001 Remediation Services – implement fixes and produce audit-ready artifacts.
• Recent how-to posts you can share with stakeholders while you work:
  • ASVS 5.0 Remediation: 12 Battle-Tested Fixes (tech-heavy patterns you can reuse).
  • PCI DSS 4.0: Your Post-March 31 Remediation Plan (great template for sprint planning).

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Call to Action

If you want us to take the wheel for the final week, we can co-drive your sprint, produce the evidence packets, and sit with you through auditor Q&A.

• Start here: ISO 27001 Risk Assessment Services → prioritize and plot the sprint.
• Then: ISO 27001 Remediation Services → implement, evidence, retest.
• Or message us directly: [email protected].

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