3 Reasons to Seek Professional Assistance with an IT Audit
Audits are dreaded by almost all companies, institutions, organizations, and governments. No one wants to have an outsider poking around their businesses, but it is always the best option.
For example, tech companies conduct regular system audits to flush out holes or weaknesses before they are exploited. However, they might struggle to see those holes or weaknesses. Therefore, you need professional assistance with an IT Audit.
According to CNBC, cybercrimes damages in 2017 cost the world more than $600 billion. Regulators are trying to limit the spread of cybercrimes by tightening compliance. The goal of this compliance is meant to protect companies and consumers from data breaches.
What Is an IT Audit?
An IT audit involves the analysis and assessment of an organization’s information systems and technological infrastructures. These audits are designed to find problems in the systems, efficiency, and compliance.
These audits are carried out by IT auditors. Once they identify any issues, they tasked with offering solutions to these problems.
As an IT auditor, you are required to develop, install, test and test audit review procedures. You are also required to determine if a company’s information system operate and maintain data integrity. IT audits often results in detailed reports that contain recommendations on the best IT practices and systems.
Reasons to Seek Professional Assistance with an IT Audit
There can be many beneficial reasons to seek professional assistance with an IT audit. Read below to find out why professional help is good.
1. To Get a Complete Audit
Hiring a third party to conduct an IT audit of your company will yield more results as compared to an internal audit. Seeking professional help with an IT audit will help identify risks that your internal staff might not spot.
Be sure to check the credentials of the IT auditor. You want an auditor who has extensive experience handling security assessment reviews.
Real world experience in handling security projects will be vital when handling your audit. Preferably, look for audit firms with an extensive client list. If possible, contact a few of their clients and ask about the experience.
Before hiring an auditor, make sure they understand the scope of the audit. Is it a full scope review or a limited scale review that only targets specific systems?
To get a complete audit, be sure to define the objectives of the audit. Those objectives will help you review the audit report once the audit is complete.
2. Information Security Compliance
In a world where almost everything is connected with technology, it is becoming increasingly important for companies and organizations to comply with information security regulations. These regulations include ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. These regulations guide companies and businesses to improve their security management and protect data.
By complying with these regulations, companies demonstrate their ability to mitigate threats of network attacks. Failure to comply with the set regulations often leads to financial and legal penalties.
In order to comply with the regulations of different security standards, companies require IT audit help. If you are qualified to handle IT audits, you can seek an IT auditor job in some of these companies that are looking to comply with the set regulations.
In response to the growing data breaches, information security compliance has become even stricter. The set standards have also become more complex.
Businesses with limited awareness are finding it increasingly difficult to follow these regulations. Such businesses are now turning to professional IT auditors for help doing an IT audit.
As governments continue coming up with stringent data security laws, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to comply or face heavy penalties. This process will continue to become stricter as governments try to ensure the data of their citizens is safe. For example, financial companies are required to follow federal regulations.
3. To Prevent the Next Cyber Attack
The last few years have witnessed a rise in cyber-attacks all over the world. The number of data breaches in medium to large-sized companies is also on the rise.
Organizations are now turning to audit firms to mitigate the risk of a data breach. It’s estimated the cost of data breaches will exceed $150 million in 2020. A huge percentage of these breaches target companies that handle other people’s data.
To prevent these breaches and attacks, you can hire an IT audit firm to identify all the system’s weaknesses. Mitigating potential problems is just as important as fixing the existing issues.
A full audit will determine which components of your system requires to improved and those that are overloaded. Conduct regular audits on your organization’s cybersecurity and hire consultants to handle security related problems.
A static audit once every year is not enough to mitigate vulnerabilities. A proactive approach is recommended, as it points out the problem before they become too big to be patched. Unlike 10 years ago when yearly static audits were adequate, nowadays companies need continuous IT audits.
You need to know that several malicious programs are released every day. Also, corporate and personal accounts are hacked, which will continue to outgrow the set security measures. Audits help you to try to keep ahead of these developments.
When Should You Conduct an IT Audit?
If your IT projects do not meet the set expectations or consistently overrun budgets, you should consider conducting an IT audit. Another instance you should conduct an IT audit is if your systems are experiencing malfunctions as a result of malware or external attacks. Also, your organization or business must conduct an IT audit to comply with set regulations and standards.
Why You Should Opt for Professional Assistance with an It Audit
Your organization’s information systems and infrastructure are critical parts of the organization’s technology strategy. Tasking your IT audit to a company employee will get you the results you want, but a third party will deliver an in-depth IT plan that will mitigate any future risks.
The real value of professional assistance with an IT Audit is on the road map that the professionals create for the company. The road map comprises of risks that require immediate remedies, a full IT budget, the ideal IT support structure for your company, and existing compliance gaps.
At Sagacent technologies, our IT auditors perform IT audits and assessments regularly to check computing systems. Our audits cover cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, data backups, and equipment.