What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on A.7.8 Equipment siting and protection?

Statement of Applicability entry for control A.7.8, showing inclusion or justified exclusion, implementation status and the risks it treats; Floor plans showing equipment placement that limits access and overlooking of sensitive screens; Environmental monitoring records for temperature and humidity with alert thresholds and responses; Lightning protection and surge filter installation records for buildings and incoming lines; Rules on food, drink and smoking near processing facilities.

What is the most common gap auditors find on A.7.8?

Screens handling sensitive data face windows or public walkways

ISO/IEC 27001:2022 · Physical controls

`A.7.8` Equipment siting and protection

Equipment is to be positioned securely and protected. Purpose (stated in ISO/IEC 27002:2022): lessens exposure of equipment to physical and environmental hazards and to tampering or harm. As an Annex A reference control, it is compared with the controls determined in risk treatment (6.1.3 c) and recorded in the Statement of Applicability as included or excluded, with the justification and implementation status (6.1.3 d); implementation guidance is ISO/IEC 27002:2022 7.8.

Source: ISO/IEC 27001:2022, A.7.8. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open ISO/IEC 27001:2022 in the compliance library.

Clauses 4 to 10 are the management-system requirements: none of them can be excluded when an organisation claims conformity. The 93 Annex A controls are a reference set: one may be excluded with a justification in the Statement of Applicability. Certification bodies assess conformity; the evidence lists here are what auditors commonly ask for, not a list the standard prescribes.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

moderate

to go live

Physical access / facilities

where the evidence lives

teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

Environmental monitoring records for temperature and humidity with alert thresholds and responses · Physical access / facilities
Rules on food, drink and smoking near processing facilities · Physical access / facilities

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Lightning protection and surge filter installation records for buildings and incoming lines · Physical access / facilities

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Statement of Applicability entry for control A.7.8, showing inclusion or justified exclusion, implementation status and the risks it treats · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Floor plans showing equipment placement that limits access and overlooking of sensitive screens · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Start with the 2 of 5 artefacts that already live in a system (Physical access / facilities); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Screens handling sensitive data face windows or public walkways
No environmental monitoring exists in small server rooms or cupboards
Organization equipment shares an unsegregated rack or room with third-party equipment
Protection against water leaks from overhead pipes is not considered

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

A.7.7 Clear desk and clear screen · A.7.9 Security of assets off-premises