ISO 27002:2022, Control 7.8 – Equipment Siting and Protection

Ownership of Control 7.8

Compliance with Control 7.8 entails the creation of an inventory of equipment hosting information assets, siting of all equipment in secure areas and implementation of appropriate measures to prevent physical and environmental threats.

Therefore, information security managers should be responsible for establishing, implementing, and maintaining necessary measures and guidelines on secure siting and protection of equipment.

General Guidance on Compliance

Control 7.8 prescribes nine specific requirements that should be taken into account for compliance:

1. Equipment should be sited in secure areas so that unauthorised persons cannot gain access to equipment.
2. Tools used for processing sensitive information such as computers, monitors, and printers should be positioned in a way that unauthorised persons cannot see information displayed on screens without permission.
3. Appropriate measures should be put in place to eliminate and/or mitigate risks arising out of physical and environmental threats such as explosives, communications interferences, fire, dust, and electromagnetic radiation.
4. For example, a Lightning rod can be an effective control against lightning strikes.
5. Guidelines on eating and drinking around equipment should be established and communicated to all relevant parties.
6. Environmental conditions that may disrupt the information processing operations should be continuously monitored. These may include temperature and humidity levels.
7. Lightning protection mechanisms should be implemented in all buildings and offices. Furthermore, lightning protection filters should be built into all incoming power lines, including communication lines.
8. If equipment is located in an industrial environment, special protection controls such as keyboard membranes should be used if needed.
9. Electromagnetic emanation may result in the leakage of sensitive information. Therefore, equipment housing sensitive or critical information assets should be secured to prevent such risk.
10. IT equipment owned and controlled by an organisation should be clearly segregated from those not owned and controlled by the organisation.

Changes and Differences from ISO 27002:2013

27002:2022/7.8 replaces 27002:2013/(11.2.1)

While the 2022 and the 2013 versions are similar to a great extent, there is one key difference to be highlighted:

In contrast to the 2013 Version, Control 7.8 in 2022 Version introduces the following requirement:

• IT equipment owned and controlled by an organisation should be clearly segregated from those not owned and controlled by the organisation.

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