Mauritius, November 2025
DNS Africa Ltd. (DNSA) provides trusted domain name registry and DNS solutions across the African continent and Europe. As a critical part of the internet infrastructure ecosystem, the organisation recognises that strong information security practices are essential to maintaining trust, stability, and operational resilience.
Since achieving ISO/IEC 27001 certification in 2020, DNS Africa Ltd. has continuously refined its Information Security Management System (ISMS) to meet evolving compliance requirements and operational realities. The journey toward implementing and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001:2022 has been both rewarding and challenging.
This article reflects on the lessons learned, obstacles overcome, and the collaborative effort that has shaped DNSA’s information security maturity over the past five years.
Aligning Security Culture with Business Operations
One of the earliest challenges was embedding information security into everyday business operations. Moving from simple policy awareness to meaningful behavioural change required time, communication, and sustained leadership commitment.
While technical security controls were implemented relatively quickly, ensuring that every employee understood their personal responsibility for safeguarding information required a more deliberate approach. DNSA introduced internal awareness sessions, structured induction training, and ongoing ISO-focused campaigns to bridge the gap.
Over time, these initiatives helped transform compliance from a documentation exercise into a shared organisational mindset, where security is viewed as everyone’s responsibility.
Integrating New Standards and Evolving Requirements
The transition from ISO/IEC 27001:2013 to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 introduced an additional layer of complexity. The updated standard includes new controls addressing areas such as:
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Threat intelligence
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Data leakage prevention
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Configuration management
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Cloud security
Integrating these requirements into existing operational processes—without disrupting service delivery—required a phased and risk-based implementation strategy.
DNSA’s dedicated ISO team played a critical role in mapping the revised Annex A controls to operational activities and redefining performance indicators to ensure controls remained measurable and effective.
Balancing Technical Depth with Resource Constraints
Like many growing technology organisations in Africa, DNSA faced the challenge of balancing technical capability with resource availability.
Implementing advanced security controls such as Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), DDoS mitigation, and vulnerability management frameworks requires both specialised expertise and sustained investment.
To address this, DNSA prioritised capacity building, cross-department collaboration, and the engagement of an independent ISO/IEC 27001 specialist to support implementation oversight and ensure best practices were followed.
Maintaining Documentation and Audit Readiness
Maintaining accurate documentation and audit readiness has also been an ongoing challenge. Ensuring that policies, procedures, and evidence remain current and traceable across departments requires disciplined governance.
DNSA addressed this by implementing structured version control processes and Confluence-based documentation tracking. The introduction of a centralised audit evidence repository significantly improved efficiency by reducing the time spent gathering records during surveillance audits and ensuring corrective actions are properly recorded and monitored.
Continuous Improvement as an Ongoing Discipline
ISO/IEC 27001 is not a static framework—it evolves alongside emerging threats, technologies, and business needs. Maintaining certification requires continuous risk assessments, incident reviews, and improvement cycles.
DNSA’s management reviews, security awareness initiatives, and post-audit reflections have become valuable tools for identifying improvement opportunities. These processes ensure that lessons learned from each audit translate into measurable operational improvements.
Looking Ahead
As DNS Africa Ltd. prepares for its 2026 Certification audit, the experiences of the past six years provide a strong foundation for continued progress.
The organisation’s journey demonstrates that ISO/IEC 27001 implementation is more than a compliance exercise—it is a strategic framework that strengthens organisational resilience, enhances operational discipline, and builds trust with partners and customers across the digital ecosystem.
For DNSA, information security is not simply about meeting standards. It is about safeguarding the integrity and reliability of the internet infrastructure that communities, businesses, and governments depend on every day.
