ChecklistGLOBAL

ISO 27017 Cloud Provider Checklist

Due diligence questions and evidence artifacts for cloud provider selection and assurance.

Aligned to ISO/IEC 27017 guidance for cloud service customers and cloud service providers.

Back to main artifactReview sources
Author
Sorena AI
Published
Mar 4, 2026
Updated
Mar 4, 2026
Sections
5

Structured answer sets in this page tree.

Primary sources
3

Cited legal and guidance references.

Publication metadata
Sorena AI
Published Mar 4, 2026
Updated Mar 4, 2026
Overview

ISO/IEC 27017 is useful for cloud due diligence because it forces clarity on shared responsibility and cloud-specific control operation. The standard is explicit that responsibilities should be agreed and documented in the agreement, and it gives concrete guidance on areas such as geographical data locations, backup specifications, incident-notification allocation, return and removal of customer assets at termination, and segregation in shared virtual environments.

Section 1

What ISO 27017 adds to a cloud provider security review

ISO/IEC 27017 provides additional cloud-specific implementation guidance for controls based on ISO/IEC 27002, plus additional controls that specifically relate to cloud services.

The key outcome for due diligence is avoiding responsibility gaps. Responsibilities must be agreed and documented, and evidence should show that controls operate as promised.

  • Define responsibility allocation (provider vs customer) and embed it in the agreement
  • Validate cloud-specific technical controls (virtualization, tenant isolation, admin tooling)
  • Collect repeatable evidence (logs, test results, review records) instead of one-off statements
Section 2

Pre-contract due diligence checklist (what to ask and why)

Use these categories as your top-level checklist, then tailor the questions to IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS.

Ask for evidence, not only narratives, and record what is contractually guaranteed versus best effort.

  • Scope + service model: what you operate vs what the provider operates (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS boundary)
  • Shared responsibility: documented role allocation, support model, and escalation paths
  • Data location and jurisdictions: where data can be stored, processed, or transmitted and how that is disclosed to the customer
  • Virtualization and multi-tenancy: tenant isolation model, hypervisor security, and segregation mechanisms
  • Identity and access: privileged access management, customer admin roles, and access review cadence
  • Logging and monitoring: what telemetry exists, who logs what in IaaS or higher-level services, retention, customer access, and alerting expectations
  • Data lifecycle: backup and restore ownership, backup specifications, retention, secure deletion, and return or removal of customer assets at termination
  • Suppliers and sub-processors: transparency, contractual flow-down, and assurance reporting
Recommended next step

Turn ISO 27017 Cloud Provider Checklist into an operational assessment

Assessment Autopilot can take ISO 27017 Cloud Provider Checklist from turning this checklist into an operational workflow to a reusable workflow inside Sorena. Teams working on ISO 27017 can keep owners, evidence, and next steps aligned without copying this guide into separate documents.

Assessment workflow
Open Assessment Autopilot for ISO 27017 Cloud Provider Checklist

Start from ISO 27017 Cloud Provider Checklist and turn the guidance into owned tasks, evidence requests, and review checkpoints.

Explore next step
Talk to Sorena
Talk through ISO 27017

Review your current process, evidence gaps, and next steps for ISO 27017 Cloud Provider Checklist.

Explore next step
Section 3

Contract and SLA clauses to align to ISO 27017

ISO 27017 guidance is easiest to operationalize when you translate it into enforceable obligations and measurable service requirements.

Avoid ambiguous language; make responsibilities, disclosure duties, and evidence delivery explicit.

  • Responsibility allocation: who performs backups, recovery, logging, monitoring, and incident response steps under the service agreement
  • Provider disclosures: geographic data locations and service functionality that supports classification and labeling
  • Change and incident notifications: timelines, channels, scope of incidents reported, target notification timeframe, and post-incident artifacts
  • Secure deletion and termination: deletion method, verification or attestation, and data return or removal mechanisms
  • Customer access: admin access methods, audit logging, and limitations/constraints documented up-front
Section 4

Evidence artifacts to request (and keep current)

A strong evidence pack is the fastest way to pass procurement, customer assurance, and audits. Keep it versioned and refresh it on material changes.

Request provider evidence that maps to control operation, not only policy statements.

  • Responsibility matrix and cloud service agreement excerpts that implement it
  • Disclosures: data location, legal jurisdictions, subcontractors, and customer-facing security responsibilities
  • Procedures and proof: access administration records, change control, backup specifications, restore test results, and deletion attestations
  • Logs and monitoring: sample audit logs, retention settings, alerting runbooks, incident postmortems
  • Assurance reports: ISO 27001 certificates, SOC reports, penetration testing summaries (where available)
Section 5

Customer responsibilities checklist (what providers expect you to do)

ISO 27017 is explicit that customers have responsibilities too. If customers don't operate their part of the model, controls fail even when the provider is strong.

Make these responsibilities visible to engineering teams and include them in onboarding and change management.

  • Tenant IAM: MFA, privileged roles, access reviews, and break-glass procedures
  • Configuration baselines: network segmentation, encryption settings, and secure defaults
  • Data governance: classification and labeling procedures, retention, and secure handling requirements
  • Monitoring and incident response: what you will detect, how you will respond, and how you coordinate with the provider
Primary sources

References and citations

Related guides

Explore more topics

ISO 27017 Compliance (Cloud Controls Implementation Playbook)
A practical ISO/IEC 27017 compliance playbook for cloud security controls: scope, shared responsibility, cloud-specific control implementation.
ISO 27017 Control Mapping to ISO 27001 (SoA + Evidence)
How to map ISO/IEC 27017 cloud security guidance to an ISO/IEC 27001 ISMS: Statement of Applicability, control owners, shared responsibility.
ISO 27017 FAQ (Cloud Security Controls, Audit, and Evidence)
Frequently asked questions about ISO/IEC 27017: what it is, how it relates to ISO 27001 and ISO 27002, shared responsibility in cloud security.
ISO 27017 Shared Responsibility Model (Provider vs Customer)
A practical ISO/IEC 27017 shared responsibility model for cloud services: who owns which security responsibilities in IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.