When it comes to operating a business in the ever-expanding tech world, it’s impossible to overstate just how important cybersecurity is. Regardless of what kind of business you’re in, be it healthcare, government contracts, or even retail, your organization handles sensitive information. It’s imperative that you prioritize keeping that information protected, both for you and for your customers. Security audits give you the ability to see any potential gaps or weaknesses in your security and show you how to address them before they become an issue. 

What is a Security Audit?

A security audit involves a detailed look at all of your cybersecurity systems to ensure that any sensitive data is protected. Once you’ve prepared your organization for an audit and discovered the scope and size of the audit you want to run, you can make a plan that fits your needs, no matter the scope. It gives you an overarching look at your entire system and can highlight any gaps that need to be addressed. 

Once you’ve done an audit, it allows your team to go in and fix potential vulnerabilities before they ever have the chance to become an issue. While a security audit does take time and resources, the benefits far outweigh any cost associated with it. When it comes to cybersecurity, it is always better to be more prepared than to try and recover from a breach or cyberattack. 

What Do You Have to Gain with a Security Audit?

Staying Ahead of Cyber Attacks

The best way to avoid cyber attacks or other malicious data breaches is to stay ahead of the curve. By running a security audit, you can see your organization’s vulnerabilities before they have the chance to be exploited. After a comprehensive audit, your team can get to work tightening your security to help your team adapt to any cybersecurity threats. Since audits are designed to review your systems with the most up-to-date security practices, they can also help update older systems so that your organization stays on the cutting edge of cybersecurity. 

Consumer Trust

In a world where companies hold so much vital customer information, like personal and financial data, it’s more important than ever to build trust with heightened security. Running regular security audits shows your consumers that you genuinely care about their information. Not only that, but if your company works in certain fields like healthcare, DoD contracts, or other specialized industries, you may need to meet certain cybersecurity standards to be able to do business. Having robust security systems can drive business through increased consumer confidence and hitting the metrics and standards that can allow you to score higher-profile contracts and clients. 

Keep Your Security Up To Date

The world of technology is rapidly changing and expanding. What would have been considered a state-of-the-art security system five years ago is now a relic of the past. Security audits help your organization stay up to date with the changes in the cybersecurity world. It’s much easier to make changes as they occur rather than having to catch up once the regulations change, and regular security audits can make it easier to see when and where your systems need to be updated. 

Different Types of Security Audit

Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, you may have different security audit needs. Regardless of your specific needs, there are a few standards that appear across any kind of audit, including data, operational, network, software, and physical security examinations. 

Compliance Audit

Compliance audits are the most common kind of audit since so many organizations have to meet specific requirements when it comes to cybersecurity. Compliance audits are a great way to see where your organization may not be meeting certain standards before an official audit is run, which can save you valuable time and resources. 

These audits ensure that you are following legal standards and can even provide you with additional certifications, like HITRUST, which will provide you with an unbiased third party certification that your organization complies with a number of regulations. 

Risk Assessment Audit

Risk assessments are less involved in finding vulnerabilities and more focused on the consequences and likelihood of an attack. They offer a look at your entire data system and tend to take more time and resources than some of the other audits. Risk assessments are a valuable tool to figure out a plan of action in case there is an attack or data breach and can help you see what data is the most valuable. 

Penetration Testing Audit

Penetration testing audits are where your system is targeted with a simulated attack to highlight any vulnerabilities or gaps in your security system. These audits can be run with automated systems or as a combination of automation and human input depending on the scope of the test. They allow your team to see how your security system would stand up against an actual cyberattack and make changes to any vulnerabilities.

Internal vs. External Audits

Whether you are doing an internal or external audit will depend on the scope and size of your organization and the level of security you are striving for. An internal audit can be more cost-effective and allow you to run more frequent analyses of your security systems, but sometimes it’s not enough to have the same team looking at everything. Without specialized technology, it can be difficult to fully assess your company’s security systems, which is where external audits can come into play. 

External auditing firms often have a complex understanding of compliance requirements as well as access to specialized tools and technology that can give you a much deeper look at your system and organization controls. They are, however, more expensive and often more time-consuming, so finding a company that fits the scale and specific needs of your organization is vital for any external audit. 

What to do After Your Audit is Complete

The first step once you have an audit complete is to document and organize any issues that need to be addressed. Once you have done this, you can more easily make a plan of action to shore up your defenses and address any vulnerabilities. Prioritize the changes that will have the highest impact on your security and set tangible, realistic goals and timelines for your team to tackle the fixes. 

Keep in mind that a security audit is not a one-and-done task; changes in technology and cybersecurity mean that you will have to regularly update your systems and perform regular maintenance to stay ahead of the curve.