Cybercrime is no joke. Each year, cybercrime costs upwards of $600 billion. Cybersecurity professionals will tell you that no business is safe from cyber threats. This is true for any business, no matter the size.
So, what can you do to help safeguard your business against these cyber threats?
One of the first steps to take is to perform a cybersecurity audit. Doing this will help you determine a vast number of things such as gaps in your systems or policies that need updating.
Keep reading to find out what you need to know about performing your next cybersecurity audit.
What Is A Cybersecurity Audit?
A cybersecurity audit is a thorough examination and analysis of your IT infrastructure. It detects threats and vulnerabilities, highlighting weak links and high-risk practices. Brush up on your buzzwords. Understand why cybersecurity is important by reading texts like this article.
If you want to find conformity and how compliant your business is to cybersecurity, then an audit is how you do it. It is used to assess a part of your business, a system within your business, a product that you sell, and so on. The assessment is done against a set of criteria. This criterion is how you ensure that the security requirements are met.
Cybersecurity is about information and data security. It is not only technological resilience or IT security. The main reasons why hackers succeed in their endeavors are misguided assurances from the internal team. Even misguided assurances from a cybersecurity business combined with a false sense of security. Your processes, people, procedures, and weakest links are all targeted. The purpose of your cybersecurity audit is to highlight all these things.
Cybersecurity Audit Vs. Cybersecurity Assessment
The effectiveness of an organization’s security controls is the focus of cybersecurity assessments. An audit should tell you if specific controls are in place. A cybersecurity assessment will look at how well each control is controlling risk.
When assessing your organization’s cyberhealth and overall risk levels, cybersecurity assessments are helpful. Furthermore, third parties are not required to conduct cybersecurity evaluations.
What Should A Cybersecurity Audit Cover?
Cybersecurity audits provide a comprehensive overview of your company’s security. It detects the vulnerabilities, hazards, and threats that organizations face. This includes the impact that these risks have on these areas.
- Data Security: network access control, encryption, data security in transit, and transmissions
- Security Policies, Procedures, and Controls: a review of operational security
- An examination of network and security controls, as well as SOC, anti-virus setups, and security monitoring capabilities
- Hardening processes, patching processes, privileged account management and role-based access
- Physical Security: disk encryption, role-based access controls, biometric data, and multifactor authentication
There are a few things you can do to make sure you’re ready. Auditors need readiness when they start looking at your organization’s security infrastructure. The more prepared you are, the easier the evaluation will be, and the accuracy of the results will improve.
Searching For Safety
Now you know that a cybersecurity audit is a great way for you to identify gaps and needs. This is the way forward for IT security within your business. You will be able to make decisions based on internal policies, hardware, and other needs.
Remember, one of the biggest elements in cybersecurity defense is keeping up staff vigilance and commitment.
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