ISO 27002:2022, Control 7.14 – Secure Disposal or Re-Use of Equipment

ISO 27002:2022 Revised Controls

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When IT equipment such as external drives, USB drives, laptops, or printers are no longer needed, they are either physically destroyed, returned back to the leaser, transferred to a third party, recycled, or made available for reuse to carry out other business operations.

Considering that this equipment may contain information assets and licensed software, organisations should ensure that all information and licensed software is irretrievably cleared off or overwritten before the disposal or reuse takes place. This will help maintain the confidentiality of information contained in this equipment.

For example, if an organisation uses an external IT asset disposal service provider and transfers old laptops, printers, and external drives to this provider, this service provider may gain unauthorised access to information hosted on this equipment.

Control 7.14 addresses how organisations can maintain the confidentiality of the information stored on the equipment to be disposed of or reused by implementing appropriate security measures and procedures.

Purpose of Control 7.14

Control 7.14 enables organisations to prevent unauthorised access to sensitive information by confirming that all information and licensed software stored on equipment are irreversibly deleted or overwritten before the equipment is disposed of or is provided to third parties to be reused.

Attributes Table

Control 7.14 is a preventive type of control that requires organisations to maintain the confidentiality of information hosted on the equipment that will be disposed of or deployed to be reused by establishing and applying appropriate procedures and measures for disposal and reuse.

Control Type Information Security PropertiesCybersecurity ConceptsOperational CapabilitiesSecurity Domains
#Preventive #Confidentiality #Protect #Physical Security
#Asset Management
#Protection
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Ownership of Control 7.14

Compliance with Control 7.14 requires the establishment of an organisation-wide data disposal-reuse procedure, identification of all equipment and implementing suitable technical disposal mechanisms and reuse process.

Therefore, the Chief Information Officer should be responsible for the establishment, implementation, and maintenance of equipment disposal and reuse procedures and mechanisms.

General Guidance on Compliance

The Control 7.14 lists four key considerations that organisations should take into account for compliance:

  • A proactive approach should be adopted

Before disposal takes place or the equipment is made available for reuse, organisations must confirm whether the equipment contains any information assets and licensed software and should ensure that such information or software is permanently deleted.

  • Physical destruction or irretrievable deletion of information

Control 7.14 lists two methods by which the information contained in equipment can be securely and permanently removed:

  1. Equipment hosting storage media devices that contain information should be physically destroyed.
  2. Information stored on the equipment should be erased, overwritten, or destroyed in a non-retrievable manner so that malicious parties cannot access information. Organisations are recommended to look into Control 7.10 on Storage Media and Control 8.10 on the deletion of Information.
  • Removal of all labels and markings

Components of the equipment and the information contained in it can have labels and markings that identify the organisation or that disclose the name of the asset owner, network, or information classification level assigned.

All these labels and markings should be irretrievably destroyed.

  • Removal of Controls

Taking into account the following conditions, organisations may choose to uninstall all security controls such as access restrictions or surveillance systems when they vacate facilities:

  1. The terms of the lease agreement related to conditions on which it needs to be returned.
  2. Eliminating and mitigating the risk of unauthorised access to sensitive information by the next tenant.
  3. Whether the existing controls can be reused at the next facility.

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Supplementary Guidance on Control 7.14

In addition to the General Guidance, the Control 7.14 entails three specific recommendations for organisations.

Damaged Equipment

When damaged equipment containing information is sent to repair, it may be exposed to the risk of unauthorised access by third parties.

Organisations should carry out a risk assessment taking into account the level of sensitivity of the information and consider if destroying the equipment is a more viable option than repair.

Full-Disk Encryption

While the full-disk encryption technique greatly minimises risks to the confidentiality of information, it should adhere to the following standards:

  • Encryption is robust and it covers all parts of the disk, including slack space.
  • Cryptographic keys should be long enough to prevent brute force attacks.
  • Organisations should maintain the confidentiality of cryptographic keys. For example, the encryption key should not be stored on the same disk.

Overwriting Tools

Organisations should choose an overwriting technique taking into account the following criteria:

  • Level of information classification assigned to the information asset.
  • Type of storage media on which the information is stored.

Changes and Differences from ISO 27002:2013

27002:2022/7.14 replaces 27002:2013/(11.2.7)

The Control 7.14 is largely similar to its counterpart in the 2013 Version. However, the Control 7.14 in the 2022 version includes more comprehensive requirements in the General Guidance.

In contrast to the 2013 Version, the 2022 Version introduces the following requirements:

  • Organisations should remove all markings and labels that identify the organisation, network, and level of classification.
  • Organisations should consider the removal of controls implemented on a facility when they vacate that facility.

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New Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
5.7NewThreat intelligence
5.23NewInformation security for use of cloud services
5.30NewICT readiness for business continuity
7.4NewPhysical security monitoring
8.9NewConfiguration management
8.10NewInformation deletion
8.11NewData masking
8.12NewData leakage prevention
8.16NewMonitoring activities
8.23NewWeb filtering
8.28NewSecure coding

Organisational Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
5.105.1.1, 05.1.2Policies for information security
5.206.1.1Information security roles and responsibilities
5.306.1.2Segregation of duties
5.407.2.1Management responsibilities
5.506.1.3Contact with authorities
5.606.1.4Contact with special interest groups
5.7NewThreat intelligence
5.806.1.5, 14.1.1Information security in project management
5.908.1.1, 08.1.2Inventory of information and other associated assets
5.1008.1.3, 08.2.3Acceptable use of information and other associated assets
5.1108.1.4Return of assets
5.12 08.2.1Classification of information
5.1308.2.2Labelling of information
5.1413.2.1, 13.2.2, 13.2.3Information transfer
5.1509.1.1, 09.1.2Access control
5.1609.2.1Identity management
5.17 09.2.4, 09.3.1, 09.4.3Authentication information
5.1809.2.2, 09.2.5, 09.2.6Access rights
5.1915.1.1Information security in supplier relationships
5.2015.1.2Addressing information security within supplier agreements
5.2115.1.3Managing information security in the ICT supply chain
5.2215.2.1, 15.2.2Monitoring, review and change management of supplier services
5.23NewInformation security for use of cloud services
5.2416.1.1Information security incident management planning and preparation
5.2516.1.4Assessment and decision on information security events
5.2616.1.5Response to information security incidents
5.2716.1.6Learning from information security incidents
5.2816.1.7Collection of evidence
5.2917.1.1, 17.1.2, 17.1.3Information security during disruption
5.30NewICT readiness for business continuity
5.3118.1.1, 18.1.5Legal, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements
5.3218.1.2Intellectual property rights
5.3318.1.3Protection of records
5.3418.1.4Privacy and protection of PII
5.3518.2.1Independent review of information security
5.3618.2.2, 18.2.3Compliance with policies, rules and standards for information security
5.3712.1.1Documented operating procedures

People Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
6.107.1.1Screening
6.207.1.2Terms and conditions of employment
6.307.2.2Information security awareness, education and training
6.407.2.3Disciplinary process
6.507.3.1Responsibilities after termination or change of employment
6.613.2.4Confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements
6.706.2.2Remote working
6.816.1.2, 16.1.3Information security event reporting

Physical Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
7.111.1.1Physical security perimeters
7.211.1.2, 11.1.6Physical entry
7.311.1.3Securing offices, rooms and facilities
7.4NewPhysical security monitoring
7.511.1.4Protecting against physical and environmental threats
7.611.1.5Working in secure areas
7.711.2.9Clear desk and clear screen
7.811.2.1Equipment siting and protection
7.911.2.6Security of assets off-premises
7.1008.3.1, 08.3.2, 08.3.3, 11.2.5Storage media
7.1111.2.2Supporting utilities
7.1211.2.3Cabling security
7.1311.2.4Equipment maintenance
7.1411.2.7Secure disposal or re-use of equipment

Technological Controls

ISO/IEC 27002:2022 Control IdentifierISO/IEC 27002:2013 Control IdentifierControl Name
8.106.2.1, 11.2.8User endpoint devices
8.209.2.3Privileged access rights
8.309.4.1Information access restriction
8.409.4.5Access to source code
8.509.4.2Secure authentication
8.612.1.3Capacity management
8.712.2.1Protection against malware
8.812.6.1, 18.2.3Management of technical vulnerabilities
8.9NewConfiguration management
8.10NewInformation deletion
8.11NewData masking
8.12NewData leakage prevention
8.1312.3.1Information backup
8.1417.2.1Redundancy of information processing facilities
8.1512.4.1, 12.4.2, 12.4.3Logging
8.16NewMonitoring activities
8.1712.4.4Clock synchronization
8.1809.4.4Use of privileged utility programs
8.1912.5.1, 12.6.2Installation of software on operational systems
8.2013.1.1Networks security
8.2113.1.2Security of network services
8.2213.1.3Segregation of networks
8.23NewWeb filtering
8.2410.1.1, 10.1.2Use of cryptography
8.2514.2.1Secure development life cycle
8.2614.1.2, 14.1.3Application security requirements
8.2714.2.5Secure system architecture and engineering principles
8.28NewSecure coding
8.2914.2.8, 14.2.9Security testing in development and acceptance
8.3014.2.7Outsourced development
8.3112.1.4, 14.2.6Separation of development, test and production environments
8.3212.1.2, 14.2.2, 14.2.3, 14.2.4Change management
8.3314.3.1Test information
8.3412.7.1Protection of information systems during audit testing
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