Nowadays, it’s more prudent to assume that your business will face a cyberattack in the near future, rather than be complacent and hope for the best. One of the best ways to ensure that your organization has the capability to weather or resist a cyberattack is by conducting a security audit.
Audits and the security strategy
Audits are necessary to ensure and maintain system quality and integrity. These system checks help identify security gaps and assure business stakeholders that your company is doing everything in its power to protect its data.
The three phrases for an audit are assessing, assigning, and auditing. Having a methodical way of auditing helps you avoid missing important details. Treat each level with the same importance to ensure thorough and comprehensive outcomes.
During the assessment phase, have your IT partner look at the security system you have in place. Business computers, servers, programs, and users need to be checked.
The assessment gives an overview of how secure the business currently is, along with any weak points that need to be addressed.
After the assessment, you need to implement the appropriate solutions and partner with the right providers. Ask your IT provider about solutions they can provide for each of your network/system gaps.
Finally, conclude your audit cycle with one last look-around before releasing the system back into the wild. Installations, patches, and upgrades must be integrated properly. For future reference, take down notes just in case you need information about software and hardware improvements done during this audit cycle.
Criteria for an audit
When conducting an audit, there are three factors you should focus on:
The state of your security
Security — especially digital security — is never at an impasse, and it is always in flux. That's because cybercriminals are always concocting new malware attacks and threats to infiltrate company networks. And that’s not even accounting for cyberattacks that exploit human error like phishing and other social engineering attacks. This means that system security has shorter and shorter expiration dates nowadays, making audits all the more crucial to implementing your security strategy.
The changes made
The key to having long-term data integrity is a continuity plan. A true continuity plan tries to address every conceivable risk realistically, especially those that can trip up business operations, such as cyberattacks. This can only be possible if you know what kind of hardware and software comprise your system, as well as their respective updates and improvements.
Who has access to what
In conclusion, data systems should allow administrators some control over who sees what. An audit will let you check on user access so that you can make necessary adjustments to protect your data.
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