ISO/IEC 27002 (formerly 17799) is an information security standard published and most recently revised in June 2005 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It is entitled Information technology - Security techniques - Code of practice for information security management. The current standard is a revision of the version published in 2000, which was a word-for-word copy of the British Standard (BS) 7799-1:1999.

ISO/IEC 27002 provides best practice recommendations on information security management for use by those who are responsible for initiating, implementing or maintaining information security management systems. Information security is defined within the standard in the context of the C-I-A triad:

The preservation of confidentiality (ensuring that information is accessible only to those authorized to have access), integrity (safeguarding the accuracy and completeness of information and processing methods) and availability (ensuring that authorized users have access to information and associated assets when required).
The 2005 version of the standard contains the following twelve main sections:

• Risk assessment and treatment
• Security policy
• Organization of information security
• Asset management
• Human resources security
• Physical and environmental security
• Communications and operations management
• Access control
• Information systems acquisition, development and maintenance
• Information security incident management
• Business continuity management
• Compliance

Within each section, IT security controls and their objectives are specified and outlined. The IT security controls are generally regarded as best practice means of achieving those objectives. For each of the controls, implementation guidance is provided. Specific controls are not mandated since:

• Each organization is expected to undertake a structured information security risk assessment process to determine its requirements before selecting controls that are appropriate to its particular circumstances. (The introduction section outlines a risk assessment process although there are more specific standards covering this area such as ISO Technical Report TR 13335 GMITS Part 3 - Guidelines for the management of IT security - Security Techniques.)
• It is practically impossible to list all conceivable controls in a general purpose standard