Washington, D.C., December 12, 2020 – CIRQ (the Certification Institute for Research Quality), an International Standards Organization (ISO) audit and certification body that is a subsidiary of the Insights Association, has announced that Gongos, Inc. has been recertified to ISO 27001, one of the most widely recognized and internationally accepted information security standards.
Gongos achieved its initial certification in October 2017. This recertification will extend until October 2023. The company’s certification is verified annually by CIRQ’s independent audit establishing continued compliance and protection of data.
ISO 27001 provides a framework for companies to manage their data security. It establishes requirements for information controls to manage people, processes and technology. The standard covers both the technological aspects of security as well as corporate security, physical security, etc., and relies on regular risk assessments enabling a company to consistently identify and treat security threats. ISO 27001 is accepted worldwide as an assurance that proper and continual measures have been taken to protect valuable company data.
The scope of Gongos, Inc.’s certification covers the management of Information Security for the processes necessary to deliver market research and consulting services to its clients.
“Being able to provide an information security certification is now table stakes for many industries,” said Brian Nagy, Director, Infrastructure of Gongos. “We continue to choose ISO 27001 as it’s recognized in all sectors and strengthens our client relationships across the board while showing our commitment to information security.”
CIRQ conducted an in-depth surveillance audit of Gongos’ information security policies and procedures as part of this recertification.
About ISO 27001
ISO 27001 provides requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an information security management system. The information security management system preserves the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information by applying a risk management process and gives confidence to interested parties that risks are adequately managed. It is important that the information security management system is integrated with the organization’s processes and overall management structure and that information security is considered in the design of processes, information systems, and controls. It is expected that an information security management system implementation will be scaled in accordance with the needs of the organization. This International Standard can be used by internal and external parties to assess the organization’s ability to meet information security requirements. ISO 27001 can be mapped to other information security schemes such as Hitrust, NIST and Soc2. Compliance with the standard also enables a company to meet global security laws, such as the NIS Directive and the GDPR.
About Gongos
Gongos, Inc. is a consultative agency that places customers at the heart of business strategy. Partnering with insights, analytics, marketing, strategy, and customer experience groups, Gongos operationalizes customer centricity by helping companies understand and activate on customer needs. Gongos was named a Forbes “Small Giant” in 2020; ranks #44 among the largest market research organizations in the U.S.; and partners with Fortune 500 clients across multiple industries including Coca-Cola, Mars Petcare, Kellogg’s, U.S. Bank, UnitedHealthcare and General Motors. For further insight into Gongos, visit gongos.com
About CIRQ
A subsidiary of the Insights Association, CIRQ (the Certification Institute for Research Quality) was established to provide assessment and certification services to market research firms seeking certification to ISO 20252:2019 and ISO/IEC 27001:2013. A non-profit entity, CIRQ is committed to providing timely, thorough and impartial assessments of its customers’ quality management or information security management systems in regard to certification to corresponding standards. CIRQ was established in compliance with all ISO requirements for certification bodies that provide auditing and certification services. To conform to its mandate of objective and impartial audits to these ISO standards, CIRQ is independently operated and managed under the oversight of an independent Board of Directors and submits to annual moderation by external authorities on ISO certification bodies.
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