There have been a reported 9,478 publicly disclosed data incidents in 2024 alone, with that amounting to over 35 million known records breached. It has become clear in recent years that information security isn’t just a ‘nice to have’, it’s a necessity to ensure you and your client’s data are protected. Which is especially the case for those processing personal and financial data, such as today’s guest, Mintago. In this episode, Tom Catnach, Head of Product and Information Security Officer for Mintago, explains their journey towards ISO 27001, the challenges faced and benefits felt from certification to the leading Information Security Standard. You’ll learn ·      Who are Mintago? ·      Who is Tom Catnach? ·      What was the main driver behind achieving ISO 27001? ·      What was the biggest ‘gap’ identified in the Gap Analysis? ·      What have they learned from the experience? ·      What are the benefits of certification to ISO 27001? ·      What does the threat horizon for information security look like?   Resources ·      Mintago ·      Isologyhub     In this episode, we talk about: [00:30] Join the isologyhub – To get access to a suite of ISO related tools, training and templates. Simply head on over to isologyhub.com to either sign-up or book a demo. [02:15] Episode summary: Today we welcome guest Tom Catnach from Mintago to discuss their journey towards ISO 27001 certification. [02:20] Who are Mintago? – Mintago are an employee benefits company, who work with companies to help their employees be financially better off. They do this in a number of ways, including: ·      Finding lost pension pots ·      Help to save money through finding discounts ·      Retirement planning ·      Offering various salary sacrifice products ·      Helping companies to be more financially efficient with pension salary sacrifice or other national insurance savings ·      Helping people to be more financially literate [05:10] Who is Tom Catnach?: Tom has a split role at Mintago, his primary role being Head of Product and secondary being Information Security Officer. Through both roles he looks after all the products and offerings as well as the information security across the business, he was also the driving force behind achieving ISO 27001. Outside of work, Tom likes to travel via motorbike, preferring to stay away from the screens and enjoying the sights. [06:30] What was Mintago’s main driver to Implement ISO 27001?: Mintago, and most other businesses by their nature, are required to hold a lot of sensitive data and so have a responsibility to their clients and employees to ensure it’s security. Mintago were looking for a robust framework to base their Information Security around, and what better option that the leading Information Security Standard, ISO 27001. ISO 27001 also offers the assessment of general business practice, and allows for growth and scaling. As a start-up, they wanted to have a solid base for policies, training ect to roll out to new hires as they expand. [08:30] Aligning Standards with core values: Trust is one of Mintago’s core values and they want to give their clients the assurance that they can be trusted to protect their data. ISO 27001 can be compared to the likes of Bcorp as it’s an on-going process. It doesn’t just stop at getting the certificate, you have annual surveillance to ensure you are still compliant year on year. [10:15] What was the scope of Mintago’s certification?: For the initial implementation, Mintago opted to just scope in Product and Customer Service. This was because all of the sensitive data is handled in those departments and they don’t allow access to any other teams, so it made sense to start there with a view to expand the scope after certification. That being said, they still rol