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With global cybercrime reaching a record high at any given time, organisations are always vulnerable to cyber attacks. Now more than ever due to the omnipresent threats. To counter such risks, businesses need proactive threat management. It ensures the long-term viability and expansion of the company by protecting against monetary loss, harm to its reputation, and operational disruptions. Since different organisations have different risk tolerances, and no two organisations are precisely the same. So, how can a company determine the level of risk it faces right now? Conducting an audit comes in handy in this situation. Organisations can evaluate their security posture and particular risks and find strategies to defend the company from possible threats via cyber security audits. This blog will guide you in learning the fundamentals of cyber security with steps on how to conduct a basic cyber security audit.

What Is A Cyber Security Audit, and Why Is It Done?

A cybersecurity audit is an essential component of risk management for any business.

It extensively evaluates a company’s networks, information systems, and procedures to find flaws and vulnerabilities that hackers might misuse. A successful audit can determine whether your company is prepared to handle the risk associated with cybersecurity. You can learn how well your people, policies, and technologies collaborate to lower the risk of cyberattacks. Additionally, an audit contributes to ensuring business continuity in the event that hacks do happen. It can offer the framework you require in order to construct an efficient cybersecurity risk management program.

A cybersecurity audit evaluates all facets of your cybersecurity program, including any areas that are determined to be deficient. That being said, not every audit is the same. If there has been a recent data loss or breach, a more thorough evaluation using more advanced techniques would be advised. Companies frequently limit their audits to concerns related to regulatory compliance, but risk-related concerns should take precedence. Aiming for risk reduction puts you in a far better position to attain compliance. It offers several benefits like:

• Enhanced security of data
• Improved functionality of your gear and software
• Industry and legal compliance
• Unearthing unidentified weaknesses
• Bring forth inefficiency in your hardware or software
• Improvement potential in the current training and policies
• Identifies potential risks

A less thorough audit, which, in some instances, is all that is required, will focus on compliance and how the current security system works. This could be done via a vulnerability scan. However, the nature of your firm will determine how often audits are required. You’ll take into account elements like the kinds of data saved, the quantity of hardware and devices, and the quantity and variety of software systems in use. The most crucial factor in determining how frequently to conduct audits is how much they will interfere with your regular business operations. Irrespective of which cybersecurity audit a company picks, all they should be regularly scheduled and must be completed as a mandatory task.

Steps on How To Conduct A Cyber Security Audit?

Cybersecurity has become essential to every organisation’s success in today’s dynamic digital environment. Conducting cybersecurity audits is crucial in guaranteeing your organisation’s safety against online attacks. Although it could seem like a complex undertaking, conducting a cybersecurity audit can be easy and fruitful with proper planning and preparation. The following steps are crucial when preparing for a cybersecurity audit.

Step 1: Prepare

1.1 Define Your Goals

Clearly state your goals and parameters. Prior to everything else, ascertain what standards you wish to audit against. This will usually be one or more cybersecurity frameworks, which are generally recognised cybersecurity standards that you can use as a model to direct your program.

1.2 Determine The Scope Of Audit

First, specify the criteria your audit will cover. Identifying the components of your cybersecurity program that your audit needs to address is a great place to start. Prepare by learning about the company’s network architecture, essential systems, and infrastructure; examine any current cybersecurity-related policies, processes, and documentation.

1.3 A Timeline And Budget

Recognise your clientele and the extent to which they are interested in the audit. What do you want this audit to accomplish, and at what time? Is the price the main issue? Learn the underlying rationale for the audit and discern between necessary and optional standards. Answering these questions will help you find a fixed budget and definitive timeline for the said audit.

Step 2: Conduct

2.1 Identify Threats

Determine the possible internal and external dangers that your company may encounter. Knowing the risks will enable you to evaluate how well your security procedures are working. Finding possible threats also allows your organisation to identify blind spots and guarantees that the team is managing threats proactively rather than merely reacting to them. Carry out a risk assessment for cybersecurity using penetration tests and vulnerability scanning. You will end up with a potential cybersecurity audit threat list to be aware of.

2.2 Evaluate The Risk

After a thorough risk examination, the vulnerabilities found and how they might affect the company are analysed. Formulate a risk checklist based on the highest to lowest priority to assess the possibility and consequences of security breaches. This aids in setting priorities and allocating resources so that they are in sync.

2.3 Gap Analysis

Your cybersecurity audit should compare the framework’s intended controls with your current cybersecurity policies, procedures, and controls. Since you’ll usually uncover several gaps where your security program isn’t as strong as the framework indicates, this is called a gap analysis. Ask your team to fill these gaps for a secure future. Create rules and practices to close all the gaps using all the risks, challenges, and vulnerabilities you have identified.

Step 3: Respond

3.1 Plan Response

The strategic planning for responding is the final step of your audit. Every threat will require a corresponding response, so this step needs to be just as detailed and precise as the rest of the process. Depending on how you ranked risk, you’ll need to decide which steps to take first.

3.2 Remediate

Software updates and data backups are two easy remedies for some threats. Others can take months to finish. You may be capable of handling some issues on your own, but there may also be threats that need outside assistance. In any case, transparency about how each threat should be addressed is essential to thwarting them and ensuring the audit process.

Collaborate with other stakeholders to implement the necessary security upgrades. Maintaining proactive cybersecurity procedures can help you ensure that you’re not just offering band-aid fixes. Create long-term security plans to defend your company against cyberattacks.

Key Areas to Focus on for Conducting a Basic Cybersecurity Audit

Cybersecurity audits come in a variety of forms, but they always aim to find holes, weak points, and possible threats to the security assets of the company and then suggest fixes and safety measures to reduce those risks. Put simply, cybersecurity audits let you protect yourself against online threats as long as you conduct them on a regular basis! Here is what you should focus on:

1. Data Security

It involves a thorough examination of data safety during transmission, network access management, encryption usage, and when the data is at rest.

2. Operational Security

This entails thoroughly examining every security policy, method, procedure, and control in your plan for preventing data loss.

3. Network Security

It includes examining all network controls and security mechanisms. It will inform you of the effectiveness of your security precautions. This also takes into account security monitoring capabilities, antivirus setups, etc.

4. System Security

It includes privileged account management, role-based access, patching processes, system hardening procedures, and more.

5. Physical Security

It includes examining the condition of the physical device used to access your network. This often involves multi-factor authentication, role-based access controls, disc encryption, and biometric systems.

6. Compliance

It involves respecting cyber laws and industry rules, such as ISO27001, HIPPA, etc., which lowers the possibility of adverse financial and legal repercussions from non-compliance.

Tools And Resources For Conducting Audits

Businesses must be mindful of the dangers posed by cyberattacks as their reliance on technology grows. Tools for cybersecurity auditing analyse all possible weaknesses and protect against threats, among other uses. A multitude of tools are available for evaluating different facets of cyber security. Cloud-based SaaS tools and on-premise network security auditing tools are examples of these. Now, which tools to use depends on what your audit entails. For instance, you wish to conduct a scan to identify vulnerabilities in your system. In that case, you can opt for vulnerability assessment tools that scan systems for known vulnerabilities and identify weak areas in an IT architecture. Nmap, an open-source program that aids in network management, monitoring, and discovery, is one instance of this. Similarly, there are tools available for penetration testing that simulate cyberattack scenarios in order to assess cybersecurity posture. Metasploit is a potent framework that can be used for vulnerability analysis, security testing, and the development of mitigation techniques. There are tools for incident response that work on incident detection, investigation, and reaction; they also manage and mitigate security incidents and breaches. Every aspect of cybersecurity will have different dedicated tools for it: web application security scanners, endpoint security tools, intrusion detection and prevention systems, tools for security configuration management, etc., are some examples. We have listed some of the most widely used cybersecurity audit tools below:

• Cobalt Strike
• Nmap
• Amass
• The Sleuth
• Maltrail
• SysmonSearch
• Nessus
• Sqlmap
• Aircrack-ng
• Kali Linux
• Metasploit
• John the Ripper
• Wireshark
• Nikto
• KisMAC
• NetStumbler
• Splunk

Conclusion

Any organisation handling sensitive data and depending on IT infrastructure needs to conduct regular cyber security audits. Businesses should perform thorough audits that find possible risks and weaknesses, safeguard their company and consumer data, and guarantee compliance with industry rules by following the above-described stages. However, achieving a secure cyber environment requires a multi-step process, and GoAllSecure can help you with it. Get in touch with us to conduct cybersecurity audits and maintain your company’s digital transformation on an upward trajectory with a solid safety harness in place. Contact us at +91 85 2723 7851 or +44 20 3287 4253 if you have any questions concerning cybersecurity audit. Take caution, and don’t offer threat actors any opportunity!