In this episode of Compliance Technologies, we continue the ISO twenty-seven thousand one series by examining where the standard truly begins: organizational context and risk and how those elements explain the role of Annex A.

ISO/IEC 27001 does not start with controls. It starts by requiring organizations to understand their context, define the scope of their Information Security Management System (ISMS), and assess risk in a way that reflects real business conditions. This episode explores how those early decisions shape everything that follows, including control selection.

We clarify why Annex A exists as a reference set of information security controls, how it supports risk treatment rather than dictating outcomes, and why justification through the Statement of Applicability is central to auditor expectations.

This conversation shows how ISO 27001 connects business context, risk-based decision-making, and enforceable controls into a coherent system and why that structure is what gives the standard its durability.

If you build, operate, or oversee an ISMS, this episode helps explain not just what Annex A is, but why it exists and how auditors expect it to be used.