ISO 27001 Password Policy: Guidelines and Best Practices

Identity theft is not a joke, Jim. Millions of people suffer every year!

Remember this dialogue from the popular TV show The Office?

As compliance experts, we believe these are golden words to live by. Identity theft in a business environment ranges from wide net phishing attempts to targeted spear phishing attempts. And this is just one spoke in the hub. Mandating a strong password policy sets the foundational guardrails for fortifying your security posture. As a business it is imperative to present a posture that is aligned with security compliance frameworks and latest best practices.

If your business is in the ISO 27001 compliance journey, implementing a robust policy that encompasses every requirement of ISO 27001 password policy is key to clear the audit with non-conformities. 

But what exactly are the ISO guidelines? Let’s understand the official guidelines, best practices, and how to implement them. 

Importance of ISO 27001 password policy

ISO 27001 Password Policies secures and strengthens passwords by offering guidelines and outlining the requirements related to policies, controls, and accountability. This helps you reduce the likelihood of malicious actors gaining unauthorized access to sensitive files. Here’s why password rules are important: 

Adherence to compliance

Adhering to ISO 27001 password policies of a sub clause in Annex A is mandatory if you handle sensitive data and want to be ISO certified. While undergoing audit checks, Password policies when implemented incorrectly, can become a cause for non compliance when highlighted in an audit. Given that all common security frameworks like HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2, and NIST have access control as a requirement, complying with this requirement makes you compliant for all.

Business continuity

One file or system in the wrong hands is a security risk that can wreak complete havoc and halt everything from moving smoothly. Security breaches, much like dominos, can affect multiple systems and disrupt workflows. Bringing things back to normal can take weeks, and even months. Not to mention the cost and human bandwidth components. In other words, it’s not a risk you want to take.

Build trust

In an increasingly privacy focused world, implementing data protection safeguards is one of the most effective branding strategies. Strong password policies help you build a strong security posture. A good security posture shows your seriousness in protecting customer privacy and gives you a competitive edge to unlock potential sales deals.

Hate writing ISO 27001 policies from scratch? Use Sprinto’s pre-built, fully customizable library of ISO 27001 password policy templates that eliminates the risk of oversight and errors that come with manual policy writing. Publish, organize, share, and manage policies like a pro.

ISO 27001 password requirements – what does ISO say?

ISO 27001 does not mandate specific password rules. It sets access control and authentication requirements in Annex A that your password policy must satisfy. In ISO 27001:2022, these sit mainly in controls A.5.15 to A.5.18 and A.8.2 to A.8.5. (In the retired 2013 version, these were domain 9)

Let’s break each of them down.

A.5.15 Access control

Requires an access control policy that is established, documented, and reviewed against your business and security requirements. For a password policy this is the parent document: it defines who can access what and on what basis (role, need to know, least privilege), and it sets the rules for authentication, including where a password alone is enough and where stronger authentication is required. Review it on a set schedule and after any significant change.

A.5.16 Identity management

Requires a formal process to create, manage, and retire user identities across their full lifecycle. Every account should map to an identifiable person or a controlled service identity, with shared or generic accounts avoided or tightly justified. Registration and de-registration should be formal and logged, so access always traces back to an accountable owner and stale identities do not linger after someone leaves.

A.5.17 Authentication information

The core password control. It merged the older 2013 password controls (9.2.4, 9.3.1, and 9.4.3), and despite common belief it is not one of the 11 new controls added in 2022. It requires the allocation and handling of authentication information (passwords, PINs, keys, and other secrets) to be governed by a management process. In practice: issue and reset credentials through secure channels and never in plain-text email; force a change of any temporary or default credential on first use; require users to keep credentials confidential and not reuse them across systems; and enforce password quality through a password management system rather than relying on users to self-police. It also covers advising staff on how to handle authentication information properly.

A.5.18 Access rights

Requires access rights to be provisioned, reviewed, and revoked in line with the access control policy. Grant access on a least-privilege basis tied to role, review rights at regular intervals to catch accumulation and privilege creep, and remove or adjust them promptly when someone changes role or leaves. Joiner, mover, and leaver events are the highest-risk moments, so tie de-provisioning to your HR or identity system rather than leaving it to memory.

A.8.2 Privileged access rights

Requires privileged access (admin, root, and equivalent) to be restricted and managed more tightly than standard access. Keep privileged accounts separate from day-to-day accounts, grant them only where the role genuinely needs them, and review their use closely. Privileged credentials warrant stronger protection, including multi-factor authentication and, where possible, time-bound or just-in-time elevation rather than standing access.

A.8.3 Information access restriction

Requires access to information and application functions to be restricted in line with the access control policy. This is where the policy meets the system: enforce role-based access so users can see and do only what their role allows, and make sure each application’s technical controls actually reflect the access decisions on paper.

A.8.5 Secure authentication

Requires secure log-on procedures and authentication technologies suited to the sensitivity of what is being accessed. In practice: enable multi-factor authentication wherever it is supported, especially for privileged, remote, and internet-facing access; slow down brute-force and credential-stuffing attempts with rate limiting and lockout thresholds; do not reveal whether the username or the password was the failed field; and prefer phishing-resistant methods for your highest-risk systems.

A.8.4 Access to source code and A.8.18 Use of privileged utility programs

Narrower, but still part of the access picture. Restrict read and write access to source-code repositories to authorised developers, and tightly control utility programs that can override system or application protections, since both can bypass the very controls your password policy depends on.

Best practices to implement ISO 27001 password policy 

Follow these best practices to meet the requirements of ISO 27001 password policy: 

• Length: The longer the password, the harder it is to crack. ISO 27001 mandates no specific length, but a practical minimum for a strong password is at least 12 characters, and length matters more than complexity.
• Complexity requirements: Creating a lengthy password is effective only as long as it is difficult to crack. Your name, city, pet name, and so on may have more than eight characters but are weak passwords that are easy to guess.
• Characters: Continuing on the previous point, the key to a complex password is a mix of lower case, upper case, numbers, special characters, and symbols.
• Review: Change credentials when there is evidence or suspicion of compromise rather than on a fixed calendar. Current guidance advises against forcing arbitrary periodic changes, which tend to produce weaker, predictable passwords. Instead, screen new passwords against known breached password lists and rely on length and multi-factor authentication.
• Default setting: Vendor provided solutions come with default passwords which are easy to guess. Whenever you purchase and deploy new software, change the default passwords.
• Multi-factor authentication: Requires a second factor in addition to the password wherever supported. It is the single most effective control against stolen or guessed credentials, and it maps to A.8.5 Secure authentication.

Stay on top of your password regulation efforts with Sprinto

Protecting critical systems is one of the mandatory requirements of ISO 27001. Manual access management is time-consuming, prone to errors, and a ticking bomb for non-compliance. 

Sprinto helps you ensure business as usual and boost productivity by balancing system security and easy accessibility. It is built to intelligently align the requirements of ISO password requirements with the specific control. The system alerts your IT administrators in case there is a breach of passwords to ensure quick resolution. 

Implement and manage access control based on level of risk, role, and the principle of least privilege. Continuously monitor systems for anomalous or non-compliant behavior such as break-in attempts into critical systems. Maintain and automatically document a real-time inventory on user accounts, detect poor configuration, access logs, and more. 

Create and configure critical systems and maintain workflows suitable to your business to ensure smooth access management. 

Still not sure?