Navigating the Journey to ISO 27001 Certification

It’s one of the most rigorous information security standards—a badge of honour and an achievement that can help you build trust with customers and unlock significant commercial opportunities.

At Lexverify, we’ve made the proactive decision to start our ISO 27001 certification journey back in July 2023. We knew this was not going to be an overnight achievement, and that it would take significant time, commitment, and resources, but we set ourselves an ambitious target: to achieve certification within 6 months. We saw this as critical to providing assurance to our customers of our commitment to developing highly secure products. Earning your customers’ trust in today’s environment is paramount, but we didn’t set out to just tick a box—we committed to establishing and fostering a security culture that would permeate every aspect of our business.

We recognised early on the importance of laying a solid foundation for our information security management system (ISMS), so we started with conducting a thorough review of the status quo and did a gap analysis to identify where we stood before beginning the process. We were already Cyber Essentials Plus certified, which meant we did not have to start from square one. However, ISO 27001 is even more complex and, recognising that we couldn’t navigate the process alone, we sought out a trusted partner with experience and expertise in information security management. Working with a partner played a key role in our journey—it kept us focused and on track, ultimately saving us months of effort.

But you can work with the best partner in the world; if you’re not committed to the process as an entire organisation, you won’t get there. As a Founder and CEO, I understood the importance of leading by example and fostering a culture of accountability within our company. We made a collective commitment to prioritise information security at every level, from the leadership team to individual employees, and from high-level product features to the smallest functionalities. This is not to say that we didn’t face any challenges—upholding an international standard is not a walk in the park and very few companies, let alone start-ups, achieve this. But we approached each challenge as an opportunity to learn and improve.

ISO 27001 certification is not just a one-time achievement; it’s a mindset—one that requires a commitment to continuous improvement. It’s about recognising that things will never be perfect and that it’s your commitment to constantly identify opportunities for improvement that will help you evolve, anticipate, and respond to a constantly changing information security landscape. It is also not about implementing processes that get in your way but about developing a system that wraps around your company, that you can manage, and that enables you to operate effectively—it’s unique to you.

We understood that achieving ISO 27001 certification was just the beginning of our journey in information security. Everything we put in place focuses on fostering a culture of continuous improvement where feedback is encouraged at every level and where lessons are used to constantly refine our processes. It’s the only way to ensure that we remain resilient in the face of evolving threats.

While it was an intense process, we met our goal—we achieved ISO 27001 certification within 6 months. This is a significant milestone in our journey which demonstrates our commitment to the highest standards of information security. By embracing ISO 27001 as a mindset, we positioned ourselves as leaders in our space, earning the trust and confidence of our customers. And the journey goes on.