Many companies assume their systems are secure, but this isn’t easy to know without regular, in-depth security audits.
And it’s not simply a requirement for your IT department either—security is the responsibility of all employees. However, you’re unable to have a security baseline without an audit.
Security audits are complex and time-consuming. The data needs to be interpreted, and fixes need to be made. So, how often should you audit your cyber security and who is best placed to do it?
What’s the Difference Between a Special and Routine Audit?
Routine Audit:
A routine audit is an automatic method that IT teams use to perform auditing activities. It can include control and risk assessments, for example. This is done more frequently and is more about regular maintenance, whereby technology plays a key role in helping automate the identification of certain patterns or anomalies an organisation might be looking for.
How Often Should IT Managers Perform Routine Audits?
As an IT manager, you decide when to perform a routine audit. You might choose to perform them monthly, quarterly or biannually. However, it’s recommended that they be performed at least twice a year.
The time between audits depends on the size of your organisation or each department. Other determining factors include the level of complexity of your systems, the type of information you hold, such as highly confidential data, and how invested the organisation is in cyber security.
Special Audit:
A special audit occurs in an organisation under certain circumstances and uses advanced technology to focus on a particular area after an event, such as a data breach.
A special audit is important, as a data breach might occur one day after the routine audit. The next routine audit could be in the following quarter, making your organisation more vulnerable. Instead, a special audit would take place after this or a similar event to analyse the situation and the systems to implement or suggest fixes much quicker.
Special Audits (Anything Other Than Routine) Should Be Performed Under the Following Circumstances:
- After a security incident or breach
- After a system upgrade or new installation
- After changes to compliance laws
- When your business grows by more than five users
- When you’ve had a business merger
- When you’ve had a digital transformation
- When you’ve implemented a new system
What Software Is Available for cyber security Auditing?
Several dozen popular commercial network and computer security auditing programs provide useful information to improve security. However, it’s complex to understand what these systems are telling you. It’s one thing to have a system in place that provides you with a plethora of data and information, but it’s not very effective if you’re unable to act on the analysis you find.
Who Should Audit Your cyber security?
There are two options here. You can either have your IT department perform these audits or outsource cyber security audits to a third party. The best option is a combination of the two, especially since a reliable third-party partner will work alongside your in-house team.
This approach enables your organisation to benefit from having a company that employs expert IT auditors to assess your organisation’s programs and operations thoroughly. Their primary function is to analyse your organisation’s IT system hardware and software programs, and they will even work with your company on-premise to assist with IT needs.
Therefore, you must work with experts who will maintain the regular operations and minimise risk regarding technology-related hardware, software and IT equipment within your organisation. Ensuring you only work with auditors or outsourced cyber security companies with high-level, core skills is vital. These include:
- The ability to perform regular, in-depth risk assessments
- Internal audit experience
- High interpersonal and communication skills
- Experience in security testing within organisations
- In-depth knowledge of IT security and infrastructure
- More than basic knowledge of various operating system platforms
- The ability to write in-depth, clear reports
- Highly analytical with the ability to use relevant software efficiently
- Completed IT auditing certifications and qualifications, such as ISO27001
Finding employees who excel in each area can be an exhaustive task, so working with an external company that already employs experts in this field is more efficient.
How Is an Audit Performed?
Many IT managers use an automated program to gather information on the internal networks and the external Internet subnet. Although your team or an external vendor can do these audits, it is not recommended that your in-house team perform them unless you are certain they are experts in this field. It’s also highly recommended that you don’t choose a vendor with which you are currently doing business.
The problem with internal audits is that if your IT professionals aren’t used to doing them routinely, they may not check all of your network’s components. Missing one server can harm your security, so hiring a team of experts is vital, especially when it’s as important as your organisation’s internal and external security.
Why Should I Outsource My Audits?
Again, audits are complex and in-depth, requiring the right people to interpret the data.
- Your IT team may understand how to interpret the data, but do they know how to act on it?
- Do they know how to prioritise steps that should be taken first?
- Do they know when you’ll need additional scans?
- Do they know how to set up a security benchmark?
If you can answer ‘no’ to these questions, you need a third party or external vendor to perform your security audits.
Consider the number of people you have on your internal IT team and how much you pay them. That’s why outsourcing to a cyber security specialist is often beneficial.
What’s a Good First Step?
No one-size-fits-all advice exists, but many companies typically start with a Penetration Test or vulnerability scan. These tests are great ways to quickly identify critical security threats to your business and help guide a cost-effective improvement programme in the future.
Understanding the baseline is critical, and then you can go from there.