Active

Certification Management

The organization shall manage certification processes for external certifications and attestations, including SOC 2, ISO certifications, and other relevant standards. Certification management shall include identification of certification requirements, preparation for certification audits, coordination with certifying bodies, and maintenance of certification status.

Requirement ID
AUD-003-R005
Parent Control
Domain Code

Requirement Details & Guidance

AUD-003-R005 · AUD-003
Why This Requirement Exists

This requirement exists to ensure governance of certification activities, certification scope, status, evidence, and obligations is consistently governed, documented, and capable of producing reliable assurance. Without it, audit activities may be inconsistent, difficult to evidence, or insufficient to support management, regulatory, and stakeholder decisions.

Implementation Guidance

Document the required governance of certification activities, certification scope, status, evidence, and obligations; assign accountable roles and approval points; define minimum records and evidence; apply the approved audit methodology and risk criteria; and retain evidence of execution and review. Periodically review the process for changes in organizational risk, regulatory expectations, and audit scope.

Practical Application & Audit Readiness

AUD-003-R005 · Field Guidance

Business Examples

    Common Audit Findings

      Common Mistakes

        Best Practices & Ownership

        AUD-003 · Recommended Approach

        Recommended Practices

          Typical Owner

          Cross-Mapped Regulatory Frameworks

          Harmonized Control Mappings
          FRAMEWORK CODE FRAMEWORK NAME & DETAILS FAMILY / CATEGORY VERSION ACTION
          IRDAI IRDAI Information & Cyber Security Guidelines IRDAI information and cyber-security requirements... Clause: §2.16-3.6.3 – External IS assessment
          India
          Guideline
          vLatest View →
          RBI-CSF RBI Cyber Security Framework / Master Directions RBI cyber-security requirements and directions set... Clause: Circular §13 – Cyber security preparedness indicators
          India
          Regulation
          vLatest View →
          SEBI-CSCRF SEBI Cyber Security & Cyber Resilience Framework SEBI’s Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framewor... Clause: 4.4 Cyber Audit
          India
          Regulation
          vLatest View →
          DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act establis... Clause: Article 6(6) – Regular internal audit of ICT risk management framework
          EU
          Regulation
          vCurrent View →
          HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA is a U.S. federal law supported by implement... Clause: § 164.308(a)(14) Standard: Compliance audit; § 164.316(a)(2) Actions, activities and assessments documentation
          US
          Law
          vCurrent View →
          COBIT2019 COBIT COBIT is an enterprise governance and management f... Clause: 4.5 – Monitor, Evaluate and Assess (MEA) > MEA02 – Managed System of Internal Control > MEA02.02 – Review effectiveness of business process controls.
          COBIT
          Governance Framework
          v2019 View →
          ISO22301 ISO/IEC 22301 ISO 22301 specifies requirements for a Business Co... Clause: 9.2.1 – General; 9.2.2 – Audit programme(s)
          ISO
          Standard
          v2019 View →
          NIST-CSF NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides high-lev... Clause: GV.OV – Oversight | GV.OV-03 – Organizational cybersecurity risk management performance is evaluated and reviewed for adjustments needed ID.IM – Improvement | ID.IM-01 – Improvements are identified from evaluations PR.PS – Platform Security | PR.PS-04 – Log records are generated and made available for continuous monitoring
          NIST
          Framework
          v2 View →
          NIST80053 NIST SP 800-53 NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 presents control families, i... Clause: 3.4 – ASSESSMENT, AUTHORIZATION, AND MONITORING; CA-2 – CONTROL ASSESSMENTS, CA-4 – SECURITY CERTIFICATION
          NIST
          Control Catalog
          vRev. 5 View →
          GDPR General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) The General Data Protection Regulation is a bindin... Clause: Article 42 – Certification
          EU
          Regulation
          vCurrent View →
          NPCI-ISR NPCI Information Security Requirements NPCI information-security requirements define cont... Clause: Operational Review; Review – ISO 27001 and PCI DSS
          India
          Standard
          vLatest View →
          SOC2 SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria SOC 2 is an independent examination and reporting... Clause: CC4.1 – Monitoring of Controls – COSO Principle 16: The entity selects, develops, and performs ongoing and/or separate evaluations to ascertain whether the components of internal control are present and functioning.
          AICPA
          Audit Framework
          vLatest View →

          Parent Domain Context

          Governance Domain Baseline
          Domain Name:
          Audit & Assurance (AUD)
          Purpose:
          To provide confidence that security controls are effective and operating as intended.
          Scope:
          Enterprise

          Parent Control Context

          Control Baseline
          Control Name:
          Independent Assessment & External Assurance (AUD-003)
          Summary:
          Establishes external assurance including assessor independence, assessment planning, execution, certification management, regulatory assessment, reporting, management response, review, and continuous improvement.
          Business Description:
          Establish and maintain processes for independent security, privacy, regulatory, certification, and external assurance assessments performed by qualified third parties.