Security audit

A security audit is a process of assessing the current security status of information systems. We perform the analysis using carefully selected criteria and indicators, adhering to the ISO27001 Certification requirements. Conducting an audit allows verifying the level of an organization’s security defense, measuring risks, and eliminating vulnerabilities to secure data and assets.

When a security audit is needed:

• When the structure of the company changes: takeover, merger, division of business;
• When the target area of ​​activity is changing;
• When reorganizing, changing management, or dismissing employees with a high level of access;
• When the legislation of the country or international data protection rules change;
• If there is a suspicion of an attack on the information system, which is expressed in unusual software behavior (“freezing”, “braking”, difficulty with access), the appearance of unauthorized commands or transactions;
• When changing employees of the IT department and security service.

Objectives of IS audit

• Study of risks;
• Identification of vulnerabilities;
• Formation of recommendations;
• Internal and external security level assessment;
• Information security standards compliance assessment.

Information security audit approaches

Multinational companies and enterprises working with foreign partners require international information security standards compliance. In the event of a discrepancy, counterparties from other countries could refuse cooperation or significantly reduce its volume, being afraid of classified data leakage.

An even greater role plays high-quality information security audit. It is important for both large corporations and small businesses. Everyone has their own big or small secrets, the disclosure of which will cause significant damage.

The main task of the website or internal information system’s security audit is to determine the cybersecurity complex condition, provide recommendations for carrying out technical and organizational work to improve the protection of the company’s resources.

How to start an information system’s security audit

The decision to initiate the audit is made by the management of the company. It also should be determined which departments and subsystems will be subjects of the security audit. For this, an agreement is signed, a work plan is approved, and staff assistance is provided. The contract specifies:

• Verifiable threats;
• Premises;
• Hardware, software, local area networks, etc.

The customer has the opportunity to close confidential resources to auditors, select individual segments that are critical for ensuring cybersecurity, and not conduct a full audit of the system.

Types of collected data analysis

There are three most popular types of data analysis:

The fastest and cheapest – verification of compliance with basic international standards;

Individual – conducting a risk analysis based on the field of activity and characteristics of the company;

Combined – a combination of the two previous techniques.

Types of IS audit:

• Documentation analysis. Researching of technical gaps in documents;
• Network security analysis. Automated or manual searching for vulnerabilities in the organization’s information system;
• Penetration testing (Pentest). Multilateral  cyberattack simulation to determine the resilience level of the security system;
• Employee verification. Assessment of the organization’s personnel awareness about the risks and possible threats;

The procedure allows:

• To determine the risks of penetration into the system;
• To receive recommendations for enhancing the information security system;
• To identify vulnerabilities;
• To assess the level of internal and external security;
• To estimate the degree of compliance with information security standards.

Report submission

The report should clearly describe the results of the data protection analysis of the client. Typically, reporting includes:

• IS audit objectives;
• Characteristics of the investigated information system;
• Method used;
• The results of the analysis of the collected data;
• Summary on the level of cybersecurity at the enterprise and/or proportionality to international standards;
• A list of recommendations for eliminating/improving shortcomings and weaknesses, increasing the effectiveness of protection.