Introduction to big data

Group heading. This unit groups subclauses and carries no text of its own. The pages it groups are linked below.

What it says, in our words

This clause introduces big data for the purposes of the guidance. It has a general part, which describes why traditional security measures do not carry across to a big data environment, and a part on the characteristics, which describes each of the eight and the risk it brings. The title changed in this draft: the first draft called the clause Big data.

What it means for an ISMS manager

The clause is the bridge between the vocabulary and the threat work, and it is the part of the document a control owner can read without the rest. Use 5.1 to explain to a non-specialist why the existing perimeter, endpoint and access model is not enough on its own, and use 5.2 to decide which characteristics your estate actually shows. The rename from Big data to Introduction to big data is not cosmetic. It tells the reader that the clause is background for the threat and risk clauses, not a definitional clause to be cited on its own. If a supplier or a consultant briefed the earlier draft as though clause 5 were the substance, that briefing needs correcting.

What this heading groups

• 5.1 General
• 5.2 Big data characteristics

What changed in this unit

• Clause 5: clause 5 renamed. The clause is titled Introduction to big data.

The characteristics this covers

What an auditor samples

• The briefing note for control owners, drawn from 5.1 and 5.2 and citing both.
• The list of characteristics present in the estate, with a reason for each absence.
• The correction note if an earlier briefing used the first draft's title.

Evidence lines are the artefacts an auditor or a reviewer asks to see. They are named here so the work can be planned; they are not a certificate and they do not replace the official text.