Read the requirements of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2: Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties, which ensures that the organisation determines interested parties relevant to information security management system, and those parties' requirements.

This version of clause 4.2 is applicable to both ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 27001:2013.

“The organisation shall determine:

• Interested parties that are relevant to the information security management system;
• The relevant requirements of these interested parties;
• Which of these requirements will be addressed through the information security management system.”

An interested party can be an individual or a group of people that are affected by the organisation’s activities. An interested party may include employees, partners, suppliers, customers etc.

According to the ISO 27001 standard, the organisation must determine the interested parties in terms of its ISMS. The number of interested parties depends upon the size and type of the organisation. Each of these interested party may have different needs and expectations, for example, customers want their data to be secured at all times, whilst on the other hand employees wants their data to be secured while resources are available to support their job roles.

The organisation must then determine the requirements of the individual interested parties whether its legal and regulatory requirements, contractual obligations or any other related requirement while balancing the organisation's needs.