By Nazy Fouladirad, President and COO of Tevora
Cybersecurity threats continue to be incredibly dynamic and frequent with each passing year. For businesses, this has created new challenges in continuously adapting security approaches while still maintaining sufficient focus on other critical areas of their organizations.
However, knowing exactly where to focus attention is rarely a straightforward process. This is where security audits can be particularly helpful.
What Are Security Audits and Why Are They Important?
Security audits are a custom-tailored evaluation of various systems and applications with the primary goal of validating security protections. While these audits are often optional for businesses, they may be mandated at times in response to various compliance regulations and industry standards.
The end results of these evaluations are a comprehensive report that outlines the strengths and weaknesses of an organization’s security operations.
What Are The Different Types of Security Audits?
Security audits differ in scope and focus depending on what is being assessed. While there are many types of audits available, three common ones are ISO, SOC, and HITRUST.
- ISO Assessment – These are big-picture audits built around the internationally recognized ISO 27001 standard. They’re designed to look at your information security management system while looking at all legal and technical security measures to ensure everything aligns with the provided frameworks.
- SOC Assessment – If your company handles client data, a SOC audit is usually important to execute. This type of review checks the safeguards you have in place to protect that information. There are two main types: SOC 1, which focuses on financial controls, and SOC 2, which is broader and covers five key principles – security, confidentiality, availability, processing integrity, and privacy.
- HITRUST Assessments – Specifically for the healthcare industry, the HITRUST framework provides a methodical approach to managing organizational compliance and risk. A HITRUST certification assessment evaluates an organization’s adherence to a wide range of healthcare-specific regulations and standards, ensuring sensitive data is handled with the highest level of care.
How to Get the Most Value From a Security Audit
Security audits, whether handled in-house or executed by a third party, can be incredibly valuable to your business. Below are some guidelines you can follow to get the most value from your audit:
- Involve All Relevant Stakeholders – Bring in all relevant stakeholders to discuss the requirements of your security audits. Many times, this involves employees, technology specialists, and even your vendors and partners, especially when you need to evaluate different elements of your third-party risk.
- Document Everything Carefully – Thorough documentation of your security procedures, guidelines, and policies is absolutely essential. This documentation not only helps auditors during their assessments but also serves as a future reference that can be used to improve security protocols down the road.
- Maintain Openness – Transparency is paramount during an audit. Hiding shortcomings or mistakes will only hinder progress. Instead, view every imperfection as a chance to get better. The more candid and exhaustive the audit, the more valuable its findings will be.
- Analyze the Review Outcomes – Once you get the final results of your security audit, be sure to carefully review all the findings. Understanding each potential risk your company is facing will help you to put in place the necessary fixes to reduce your exposure to major security breaches.
- Prioritize Required Actions – Remember that not every security risk your company faces needs to be handled immediately. Prioritize issues based on their severity and focus on those adjustments first.
Increase Your Business Resilience
Security audits can be an invaluable component when trying to build increased operational resilience. By scheduling security audits regularly throughout the year, you’ll be able to minimize your business’s risk exposure while identifying critical security gaps that need to be addressed.
About the author
Nazy Fouladirad is President and COO of Tevora, a global leading cybersecurity consultancy. She has dedicated her career to creating a more secure business and online environment for organizations across the country and world. She is passionate about serving her community and acts as a board member for a local nonprofit organization.