While the word “audit” can easily be a scary thought for businesses, there are certain cases where an audit serves an organization’s direct benefit. Take, for instance, the ones that occur internally to identify and correct security issues and vulnerabilities. These audits are not only a positive endeavor for businesses; they’re extremely important to carry out.
Let’s talk about why this is and review a few standard practices you should prioritize as you go about this process.
As you would expect, a security audit reviews and analyzes a business’ protections against modern threats. It is meant to identify existing vulnerabilities and indicate where a business needs to improve its protections.
Hopefully, the reason it is so important is already clear, but just in case:
A security audit enables a business to understand its real-life risks better and improve its protections more effectively.
More specifically:
First, audits can be separated by who is conducting them. Internal audits are conducted by members of the business being audited, and external audits involve a third party evaluating the business’ security preparations. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks, so undergoing both to the best of your ability will probably be ideal.
Whomever it is that is carrying out the audit, there are five security umbrellas that it should cover:
There are a few things that all of your audits should involve to help ensure you get as much value as you can from each of them. For instance:
While a security audit can and should cover various aspects of your business security, you should go into it with specific objectives in mind. How well does your network security operate? What vulnerabilities do you need to resolve? Having a goal in mind for your audit can help you better understand and approach different shortcomings as they are identified.
Whether an internal resource or an external provider like SouthBridge Consulting LLC is conducting your evaluation, you must reiterate the goals we just discussed as well as some of your business’ more specific needs… particularly concerning your compliance. While your auditor should already know what to look for, communicating with them can only be helpful.
Evaluating your existing security measures and not making any changes based on the results would be a waste of time and money. Make sure you consider your audit's outcome completely, lean on an IT professional for assistance, and make the adjustments they recommend.
If you worked with us, you’d have access to a team of technology experts committed to helping your business’ IT—and, by extension, your business—thrive, focusing on both productivity and security. To learn more about what we can offer, call us at (281) 816-6430.
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