This International Standard establishes guidelines and general principles for initiating, implementing, maintaining, and improving information security management in an organization. The objectives outlined in this International Standard provide general guidance on the commonly accepted goals of information security management.

The control objectives and controls of this International Standard are intended to be implemented to meet the requirements identified by a risk assessment. This International Standard may serve as a practical guideline for developing organizational security standards and effective security management practices and to help build confidence in inter-organizational activities.