This part of ISO/IEC 27035 is the foundation of this multipart International Standard. It presents basic concepts and phases of information security incident management and combines these concepts with principles in a structured approach to detecting, reporting, assessing, and responding to incidents, and applying lessons learnt.

The principles given in this part of ISO/IEC 27035 are generic and intended to be applicable to all organizations, regardless of type, size or nature. Organizations can adjust the guidance given in this part of ISO/IEC 27035 according to their type, size and nature of business in relation to the information security risk situation. This part of ISO/IEC 27035 is also applicable to external organizations providing information security incident management services.