ISO 27001 — Information Security Management Standard

What Is ISO 27001?

ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS)—a systematic approach to managing sensitive organizational information so that it remains secure.

The standard follows a risk-based methodology: organizations identify the information assets they need to protect, assess the threats and vulnerabilities that could compromise them, and implement proportionate controls drawn from Annex A of the standard (which lists 93 controls across organizational, people, physical, and technological domains in the 2022 revision).

Certification is granted by accredited third-party auditors who verify that the ISMS is properly designed and operating effectively.

Why It Matters in Healthcare

Healthcare organizations are custodians of some of the most sensitive data in existence—patient diagnoses, treatment histories, genetic information, and financial records. This makes the sector a prime target for cyberattacks, ransomware, and data breaches. ISO 27001 matters because:

• Structured risk management: Rather than relying on ad-hoc security measures, ISO 27001 requires a formal, repeatable risk assessment process that evolves as threats change.
• Regulatory alignment: ISO 27001 controls map closely to the technical safeguards required by HIPAA, GDPR, and national data-protection laws in Latin America and elsewhere, simplifying multi-regulation compliance.
• Vendor trust: When healthcare organizations evaluate SaaS vendors for their HIS, EHR, LIS, or PACS, ISO 27001 certification is one of the strongest signals of a mature security posture.
• Incident preparedness: The standard requires documented incident response and business continuity plans, ensuring that organizations can detect, contain, and recover from security events with minimal disruption to patient care.
• Continuous improvement: ISO 27001 mandates internal audits, management reviews, and corrective actions, creating a culture of ongoing security improvement rather than one-time compliance.

How Davix Relates to ISO 27001

Davix's information security management system is aligned with ISO 27001 principles across the entire platform:

• Risk-based controls: Security measures are selected and prioritized based on a formal risk assessment that is reviewed and updated regularly.
• Encryption: Patient data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.2+), satisfying both ISO 27001 cryptographic controls and HIPAA encryption expectations.
• Access management: Role-based access control, multi-factor authentication, and least-privilege policies ensure that only authorized personnel interact with sensitive data.
• Audit logging: Comprehensive, immutable logs record every access and modification event, supporting both internal audits and regulatory inspections.
• Business continuity: Geographic redundancy, automated backups, and disaster-recovery runbooks protect against data loss and service interruption.
• Third-party assurance: Davix undergoes periodic security assessments and is committed to maintaining certifications that give customers confidence in the platform's security posture.

For healthcare organizations that need to demonstrate rigorous data protection—whether to regulators, accreditation bodies, or patients—partnering with a vendor aligned to ISO 27001 is a meaningful risk-reduction strategy.