Last updated

December 1, 2025

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Free ISO 27001 Vendor Questionnaire Template (PDF Download)

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Written by

Edward Kost

Senior Cybersecurity Writer

Edward is a cyber writer with a mechanical engineering background. His work has been referenced by academic institutions and government bodies.

Reviewed by

Phil Ross

Chief Information Security Officer

Phil is a Forrester Zero Trust Strategist leveraging decades of experience in enterprise cybersecurity architectures.

Table of contents

ISO 27001 is commonly used for assessing supply chain and data breach risks during due diligence. This post provides a free ISO 27001 vendor questionnaire template for a high-level evaluation of vendor information security standards. Though this security assessment template only broadly covers Supply Chain Risk Management aspects of ISO 27001, it should still be sufficient for identifying potential deficiencies in a vendor’s security control strategy requiring further investigation.

Security questionnaires should be managed within the content of a Vendor Risk Management program, ideally within a single platform, so that the entire questionnaire lifecycle can be automated.

Free ISO 27001 Template for Service Providers

Download this ISO 27001 vendor questionniare template to use it in your Vendor Risk Management workflow. For more templates, see our ISO 27001 template hub.

The following ISO 27001 template emphasizes security control families mapping to the data security and data protection standards of third-party vendors, primarily the following control families:

A.5 Information security policies
A.9 Access control
A.12 Operational security
A.15 Supplier relationships
A.16 Information security incident management
A.17 Information security aspects of business continuity management
A.18 Compliance

This template also covers the following clauses:

Clause 4: Context of the Organization - Proof of confident knowledge of all internal and external regulatory issues.
Clause 5: Leadership - The leadership’s team commitment to an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
Clause 6: Planning - Competence in evaluating the security risks of assets within the context of the ISMS.
Clause 7: Support - Ensures all staff are supported with sufficient resources for maintaining the ISMS
Clause 8: Operation - The ability to apply appropriate security measures to all identified risks to sensitive data integrity, discovered vulnerabilities, and any exposures facilitating cyber attacks and data breaches.
Clause 9: Performance Evaluation - An evaluation of internal audits for monitoring the efficacy of security controls and processes.
Clause 10: Improvement - Ensuring processes are in place to improve the ISMS continuously.

You can download this free ISO 27001 risk assessment template to identify vendor risks impacting ISO 27001 compliance.

Note: This template is helpful for a high-level evaluation of the information security of vendors and service providers. For a comprehensive vendor risk assessment, it’s recommended to use a Vendor Risk Management platform like UpGuard to ensure your questionnaire management processes are built upon an efficient and scalable framework.

UpGuard offers a library of industry-standard questionnaires, including ISO 27001, GDPR, NIST CSF, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.

Security questionnaires on the UpGuard platform.

Learn how to choose security questionnaire automation software >

Context of the Organization

1. Will you accommodate an onsite security audit with 24 hours’ notice?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

2. WIll you maintain an audit log of data servers and backup processes for your confidential data?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

3. Can you provide proof of where your confidential data is located at any point in time?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

4. Are there internal or external issues negatively impacting your ability to achieve the intended outcomes of your Information Security Management System (ISMS)?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

5. Can you define and decide on the limits and areas where the information security management system (ISMS) will be applied?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

An organization may have various departments or business units that handle different types of information and have different security needs. They must clearly identify which specific information assets will be covered by the ISMS.

6. Have you created a system for managing information security?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

7. Has this information security policy been put into action?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

8. Do you have a policy for maintaining this information security system?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Learn how UpGuard protects the healthcare industry from data breaches >

Leadership

1. Have you established your information security policy and objectives?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

2. Can you provide evidence that your information security policy and objectives are compatible with your business’s strategic direction?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

This question ensures that information security is integrated into the overall organizational strategy and receives the necessary support to achieve its objectives effectively.

3. Can you provide evidence that the requirements of your information security management system are smoothly integrated into its everyday processes?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

4. Can you provide evidence for the availability of all necessary resources required by your information security management systems?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

5. Can you provide evidence for continuously communicating the importance of effective information security management?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

6. Can you provide evidence for continuously aligning with the requirements of your information security management system?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

7. Can you provide evidence that your information security management system is achieving its predetermined objectives and intended outcomes?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

8. Can you provide evidence that your information security management system is achieving its predetermined objectives and intended outcomes?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

9. Do you have processes supporting the continuous improvement of your information security management system

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

10. Does your upper management ensure the responsibilities of information security staff are communicated?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Planning

1. Does your organization have safeguards to identify risks associated with your information security management system?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

2. Does your organization have solutions for the remediation of risks associated with your information security management system?

Yes
No
Not applicable.
Vendor to add comments

3. Does your organization have risk acceptance criteria as part of a third-party risk management program?

Yes
No
Not applicable.
Vendor to add comments

Learn more about Third-Party Risk Management >

4. Does your organization have a repeatable risk assessment framework for investigating vendor risks and their impact on your security posture?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

5. What is your process for applying risk assessments to identified risks, and how do you track their progress?

Yes
No.
Not applicable.
Vendor to add comments

Learn how to make vendors respond to risk assessments faster >

6. What is your system for measuring the projected impact on your security posture should any detected risks materialize?

Vendor to add comments

Solutions like UpGuard can evaluate the efficacy of remediation efforts by projecting their impact on your security posture.

Security posture projection feature on the UpGuard platform.

Request a free trial of UpGuard >

7. What is your process for determining risk severity for all identified vulnerabilities?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

8. What is your process for prioritizing critical security risks, both internally and as part of your Third-Party Risk Management program?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

The process of organizing vendors based on increasing security risk severity is known as Vendor Tiering.

Learn more about Vendor Tiering >

9. What is your system for choosing security controls supporting your information security objectives?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Having a system for selecting security controls demonstrates that the vendor follows a structured and systematic approach to selecting appropriate security measures.

10. What is your system for communicating risk mitigation efforts with board members and stakeholders?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Learn about UpGuard’s executive reporting functionality >

11. Do you have a disaster recovery plan in place?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

12. Do you have an Incident Response Plan in place?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Learn how to design an effective Incident Response Plan >

13. What incident notification processes do you have in place for activating security practices?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Support

1. Have you supplied security teams with the resources needed for establishing and maintaining your ISMS?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

2. Are all persons within your cybersecurity teams aware of your information security policy?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

3. What security program processes do you have in place for protecting sensitive documentation (including access control details, physical security, cloud security controls, penetration testing, etc.)?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Operation

1. What is your system for managing your attack surface?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

2. What is your system for detecting threats in your attack surface (SaaS product misconfigurations, legacy software, unpatched servers, etc.)?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Learn how UpGuard streamlines Attack Surface Management >

3. What is your process for tracking all outsourced processes?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

4. Do you use other questionnaires or frameworks to track your cloud security or data security efforts (CAIQ, SIG, SOC 2, etc.)?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

5. Are your vendor security risk assessments performed at planned intervals?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

6. What is your process for activating risk assessment processes when unexpected ISMS changes occur?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

The ability to rapidly respond to ISMS changes, such as system updates, policy changes, or security incidents, proves the vendor can maintain adequate information security controls.

7. Do you have a policy for retaining the results of information risk assessment?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

8. What is your retention period for completed information risk assessments?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Performance Evaluation

1. What is your system for continuously evaluating the efficacy of your Information Security Management System?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

2. Do you have a system for continuously monitoring your internal attack surface?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

3. Do you have a system for continuously monitoring your external attack surface?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

4. Do you have a system for continuously monitoring your external attack surface?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Vendors that continuously monitor their external attack surface reduce the risk of your business being impacted by supply chain attacks and third-party breaches.

5. Do you perform regular internal audits to determine if your Information Security Management System meets the standard of ISO 27001?

Yes
No
Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

Improvement

1. What is your system for evaluating the efficacy of remediation efforts?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

2. What is your system for adjusting your Information Security Management system when needed?

Not applicable
Vendor to add comments

By having a well-defined system for making adjustments, organizations can adapt their security controls, policies, and processes promptly, ensuring the ongoing protection of information assets and maintaining compliance with ISO 27001 standards.