IT Security Audits

An IT security audit is basically an overall assessment of the organization’s IT security practices both physical and non-physical (software) that can potentially lead to its compromise. This includes things like vulnerability scans to find out loopholes in the IT systems or conducting penetration tests to gain unauthorized access to the systems etc. Reports generated after performing all the necessary procedures are then submitted to the organization for further analysis.

Your IT Security Assessment will consist of the following elements:

SECURITY RISK REPORT. This executive-level report includes a Security Risk Score along with summary charts, graphs and an explanation of the risks found in the security scans.

SECURITY POLICY ASSESSMENT REPORT. A detailed review of the security policies that are in place on both a domain wide and local machine basis.

SHARE PERMISSION REPORT BY COMPUTER. Comprehensive lists of all network “shares” by computer, detailing which users and groups have access to which devices and files, and what level of access they have.

SHARE PERMISSION REPORT BY USER. Organizes permissions by user, showing all shared computers and files to which they have access.

OUTBOUND SECURITY REPORT. Highlights deviation from industry standards compared to outbound port and protocol accessibility, lists available wireless networks as part of a wireless security survey, and provides information on Internet content accessibility.

EXTERNAL VULNERABILITIES FULL DETAIL REPORT. A comprehensive output including security holes, warnings, and informational items that can help you make better network security decisions, plus a full NMap Scan which checks all 65,535 ports and reports which are open. This is an essential item for many standard security compliance reports.

Why are cybersecurity audits important?

A recent PWC report says 87 percent of global CEOs believe investing in cybersecurity is important for building trust with customers. Yet less than half of businesses worldwide are conducting audits of the third-parties which handle their collected personal data. In other words, there is a 54 percent chance an organization collecting personal data is not sure whether this data is being adequately protected – despite their CEOs expressing the importance of doing so.

If a company believes in protecting personal data, or, in the very least, wants to avoid an expensive data breach, they must do their due diligence when choosing third-party providers. This is why conducting cybersecurity audits is so important. An organization needs to know where and how their data is stored because, at the end of the day, any organization which collects personal data is ultimately responsible for any data protection claims – claims which transfer to third-parties.