• Shivam Maurya
• September 18, 2024
• No Comments

In the modern digital world the rate of cyber crime is increasing rapidly. Therefore, a large number of individuals and organisations across the globe have encountered data breach issues. Hence, it is important to conduct a cyber security audit to safeguard your confidential data from third-party access. In this context, to find best practices available for conducting system and cyber audits, Essential Infosec can play a pivotal role. It is a CERT-In-empanelled information security consulting firm which offers great information security services to ensure customer satisfaction.

Definition of cyber security audit

A cyber security audit is mainly referred to as a process of conducting a test to determine cyber threats present within an individual’s confidential information. It is effective enough to determine whether your devices or confidential information has been accessed by unauthorised parties without consent. Therefore, you can take relevant action to protect your data using appropriate approaches.

Types of cyber security audits

Cyber security audits can be classified into two distinct categories including internal audits and external audits.

• Internal audits: It is performed when an individual or a business organisation has the resources and capacity to conduct the audit in-house.
• External audits: It is performed when a third-party user is brought outside of the organisation, to test malware present in your data.

Ways to conduct system and cyber audits.

Some of the effective ways are presented in the below section which will help you in conducting appropriate systems and cyber audits.

• Determining the scope:

At the initial stage, you need to determine the scope of conducting the system and cyber audit. Here, you should also determine the stakeholder who will play a crucial role. Moreover, the reason behind conducting this particular audit and how it will be conducted consistently to avoid any complications.

Some specific components you should focus on while determining your scope.

• IT Infrastructure
• Physical security practices
• Business cyber security policies and procedures.
• Sensitive data storage, transmission and protection

After detecting the scope, make sure you document the need to conduct a specific system and cyber audit to avoid future complications.

• Detecting threats:

After determining the scope of the conducting system and cyber audit, you need to perform a cybersecurity risk assessment. It will mainly help in identifying the potential threats affecting the scope of your audit and causing negative influence.

Some of the common examples of cyber threats in the modern world include.

• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
• Malware
• Shadow IT
• Social Engineering
• SQL injection
• Zero-day exploits
• Stolen passwords

One of the most effective ways to identify the potential threat affecting your confidential information is by performing continuous security monitoring. It will mainly help in identifying the root cause of cyber security issues encountered by an individual or a business.

• Plan response:

After detecting the potential threats affecting your confidential information, you need to prepare a response plan. Considering which potential threats will be mitigated so that it may not cause further negative influence by leaking data to an unauthorised party. Moreover, a clear response plan will also help external auditors identify root causes and use appropriate mitigation strategies to ensure great outcomes.

By concluding the overall observation it has been found that cyber security issues are increasing day by day, thus, it is necessary to conduct system and cyber security audits to protect confidential information. In such a case, to protect your confidential information Essential Infosec can act as a great business organisation that will offer potential steps following which your confidential information will be protected eventually.