A cybersecurity audit is necessary to prevent income loss and damages to a business’s organization. Cybersecurity audits are an in-depth analysis of an organization’s IT infrastructure in its ability to handle cyber threats. ATET Security, a cyber security company in Singapore, performs cybersecurity audits where an experienced cyber audit team identifies all potential threats and vulnerabilities by exposing high-risk practices. It also recognizes potential weaknesses.
Local regulations such as the PDPA (Personal data protection act) will give credence to civil penalties if not enough is done to protect sensitive data. To mitigate the financial consequences of any cyber risk and to show that your organization has taken the precautionary steps to protect both consumer and company data, a cybersecurity audit is crucial.
Reasons to Perform a Cybersecurity Audit
The true purpose of an audit is to provide executives and consumers with an accurate cybersecurity assessment of an organization’s security posture.
1. Keeps an Organization Updated With Necessary Security Measures
Cybersecurity solutions like a cyber audit thoroughly go through your current security infrastructure. This analysis helps to create a baseline standard for your organization in the future. Every organization has a list of security policies to follow. The audit begins by going through a “checklist” in order to verify if the implemented security failsafe is working properly.
2. Identifies Security Control Weaknesses
A cyber security audit begins by evaluating all aspects of an organization’s security controls and security monitoring capabilities.
Management Security
Overlying structure of your security controls. Also called administrative controls, these provide the rules and procedures for implementing a safe secure environment.
Operational Security
The overall effectiveness of your controls. Also referred to as technical controls, includes an organization’s access controls and security topologies applied to systems, networks, and also applications. Penetration testing (Pen-testing) is a common activity amongst security firms to ascertain the “safeness” of an organisation’s suite. A wide variety of methods such as an SMTP injection could compromise security.
Physical Security
The protection of an organization’s personnel, hardware, data from physical threat actors that would damage and disrupt daily business operations. Social engineering is commonly used by hackers to trick administrators into granting access to critical systems, as hackers may disguise themselves as customers or employees. Similarly, hardware systems may have built-in “backdoors” where bad actors can easily access data without the company’s consent. Measures like 2FA and proper screening processes can help reduce the risk of such events happening.
Data Security
This includes a review of network access control, security of data during its transmission, processing, and storage, and a review on encryption use. Technology like blockchain could be implemented to secure highly sensitive data in a decentralised manner.
3. Strengthens Current Security Policies in the Organization
Data breaches are the most likely to happen to an organization’s non-updated security policies. A cyber security audit ensures that policies involving network access control, disaster recovery, and business continuity are following relevant compliance standards. The more transparent a company is about policies in place, the easier it is for an auditor to do their job and protect the companies’ virtual assets. Merging an organization’s policies increases the efficiency of your security team. An audit identifies the weaknesses in your security practices and helps you prepare for the potential gaps.
4. Readies the Organization In the Case of a Cybersecurity Breach
Auditors will normally interview an organization’s security personnel to get a better understanding of its security infrastructure. The audit details how well a company’s security controls maintain data integrity. It also outlines the actions to take in order for IT systems to handle sensitive data in the event of a data breach. A security auditor can quiz employees on their data security protocols in order to find out if everyone at a company understands their data security responsibilities.
Over to you!
For a cybersecurity audit designed to keep your company updated against potential breaches, the most common solution is to hire an auditor for your organization. An experienced auditor will not only keep your company compliant with regulations such as the PDPA. An organization will suffer heavy fines for data breaches but will also keep your employees updated on security protocol, better future-proofing your company for further external audits. ATET Security is a cybersecurity company in Singapore that provides expert help with all manners of cybersecurity protection.