Contact with special interest groups
Maintain ties with security groups to stay updated on threats and best practices.
🏛️ Framework
ISO/IEC 27001:2022
🧭 Control effect
Preventative
🧱 ISO 27001 domain
Organisational controls
🔐 Classifications
N/A
🗓️ Official last update
24 Oct 2022
✏️ Control Stack last updated
22 Feb 2026
🎯 Maturity levels
N/A
The organization shall establish and maintain contact with special interest groups or other specialist security forums and professional associations.
Source: ISO/IEC 27001:2022
Plain language
This control is about keeping in touch with groups and organisations that specialise in information security. Doing so helps you stay informed about the latest threats and how to protect against them. If you don't keep these connections, you risk missing out on critical updates that could protect your organisation from security breaches.
Why it matters
Lack of engagement with security groups can lead to missed threat intelligence, increasing the risk of undetected vulnerabilities and slower incident responses.
Operational notes
Join relevant security forums and ISACs; assign owners to monitor alerts, share summaries internally, and track actions from shared threat intel.
Implementation tips
- The IT manager should join security groups and forums that focus on industry-specific threats and best practices. This can be done by identifying reputable organisations online or through industry contacts and ensuring ongoing participation in discussions and updates.
- The board should allocate resources for attending relevant security conferences and webinars. This not only promotes continuous learning but also provides networking opportunities to connect with security professionals.
- The compliance officer should ensure regular communication with these groups, sharing relevant information and receiving updates on threats. This involves subscribing to newsletters, participating in forums, and attending events where leading experts discuss current security trends.
- The HR department should include involvement in special interest groups as part of the ongoing security training programs for relevant staff. This can be integrated into professional development goals to encourage engagement with larger security communities.
- The overall security strategy team should periodically review memberships and participation in these groups to assess the value and relevance of continued association. This ensures the organisation stays aligned with the most applicable and advantageous resources.
Audit / evidence tips
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Ask: a list of memberships or subscriptions to security groups and forums
Good: active and ongoing engagement with at least several well-recognised security groups
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Ask: to see evidence of participation in security conferences or webinars over the past year
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Ask: records of internal discussions or reports that include information shared from these groups
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Ask: documentation or communication that details alerts or advisories received from these groups
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Ask: to see professional development plans for staff that involve interaction with these groups
Cross-framework mappings
How Annex A 5.6 relates to controls across ISO/IEC 27001, Essential Eight, and ASD ISM.
These mappings show relationships between controls across frameworks. They do not imply full equivalence or certification.
ASD ISM
| Control | Notes | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Partially overlaps (1) | ||
| ISM-2000 | ISM-2000 requires the board or executive committee to seek regular briefings on the organisation’s cyber security posture and threat envi... | |
| Supports (3) | ||
| ISM-0039 | ISM-0039 requires a cyber security strategy that is developed and maintained to remain effective over time | |
| ISM-0720 | ISM-0720 requires the CISO to develop, implement and maintain a cyber security communications strategy to communicate the organisation’s ... | |
| ISM-1617 | ISM-1617 calls for the CISO to maintain the cyber security program’s currency in addressing threats and needs | |