Korea Information Security Management System

K-ISMS requires establishment of explicit C-level security governance including appointment of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or equivalent executive with direct board accountability, documented security policy framework, and management-level committee oversight.

Data centers must maintain quarterly executive security reviews, document risk assessment processes across all 104 control items, and demonstrate that security decisions receive director-level approval rather than IT-only authorization, with evidence preserved in meeting minutes and decision logs.

Organizations must implement hierarchical information classification (Critical/Important/General levels) with mandatory data labeling, encryption-in-transit for classified information, and role-based access control (RBAC) tied to documented business justification.

Data centers specifically must maintain access logs showing approval chains for datacenter entry, network administrator credentials, and system modifications, with monthly access reviews and documented removal of terminated staff credentials within 24 hours of separation.

K-ISMS mandates multiple layers of physical perimeter controls including badge/biometric access systems with audit trails, segregated secure areas (cages/secure racks) requiring secondary authentication, CCTV recording maintained minimum 30 days, and environmental monitoring (temperature, humidity, power) with automated alerting.

Data centers must document daily facility inspection logs, maintain segregated visitor access areas, and implement escort requirements for non-employees in equipment areas, with monthly security reviews of physical access logs identifying anomalies.

The standard requires network segmentation isolating customer environments at Layer 3 (separate subnets), firewall ruleset documentation with business justification, and mandatory encryption of administrative access (SSH key-based authentication, no Telnet).

Data centers must maintain current asset inventory (hardware, OS versions, patches), apply vendor security updates within 30 days of release, disable unnecessary network services, and conduct annual vulnerability assessments with documented remediation for findings exceeding Medium severity.

Organizations must establish incident response team with defined roles, maintain contact information updated quarterly, and demonstrate ability to preserve forensic evidence (system logs minimum 6 months retention, network flow data minimum 3 months).

Data centers specifically must have documented procedures for containment of affected systems, customer notification protocols within defined timeframes, and capability to perform forensic analysis on storage media—including procedures for secure media sanitization per NIST SP 800-88 guidelines.

K-ISMS specifies minimum encryption algorithms (AES-256 for symmetric, RSA-2048+ for asymmetric), requires documented key management procedures including secure generation, storage in hardware security modules (HSMs) for critical keys, and key rotation policies (minimum every 2 years for symmetric keys).

Data centers must maintain HSM audit logs, document chain-of-custody for encryption keys, and ensure customer data encrypted at rest using customer-managed or escrow keys separated from datacenter infrastructure keys.

The standard demands systematic evidence collection across all 104 items, including security policy documents, risk assessment reports, access logs, change management records, training attendance lists, and incident reports.

Data centers must maintain audit logs showing system configuration changes with before/after screenshots, maintain evidence repository accessible to KISA auditors, and conduct quarterly internal audits using KISA-provided assessment checklists, with documented corrective action plans for any deviations.

Organizations must contractually require K-ISMS compliance (or equivalent security controls) from critical service providers, conduct annual security assessments of vendors handling sensitive data, and maintain documented approval processes for new vendors.

Data centers acting as service providers must provide customers with detailed security control documentation, allow customer security audits or SOC 2 Type II reports demonstrating control implementation, and maintain separation of duties preventing single vendor from controlling both infrastructure and audit processes.