Today all business, except few, is processed through electronically and their all information are stored and processed digitally. Their information is transmitted through internet. Every activity of business is depending on the proper usage of the Information technology. As all business is based on information technology, security is must for everyone today.
Security audits are usually used for the business information security in any organization. The auditing approach must be designed to cover all the aspects of security including people, processes and technology. Audits play an essential role in maintains the appropriate levels of security in your organization, but different types of audits are required for different situations. The auditor must have adequate knowledge about the company and the structure of the organization.
If security audit is implemented correctly, it reveals the weak points of the organization, its employees, and other areas. While auditing the auditor should investigate what security controls are in place and how they work? An information security audit is one of the best ways to decide the security of an organization’s information without sustain the cost and other associated damages of a security incident. Security audits evaluate an information system’s performance against a list of criteria.
Security audit involves everyone who uses any computer resources throughout the organization. Security audits provide tools to examine how secure a site really is. Computer security auditors perform their work though personal interview, examination of operating system settings, analysis of network shares, and historical data. They are concerned mainly with how securities are actually used. There are a number of key questions that security audits should ready to answer.
How difficult it is to crack the password?
Are the audit logs to record that accesses data?
How is your backup media stored? Who has access to the backup stored? Is it up-to-date?
These are just a few of the kind of questions that should be review in a security audit.
According to the president of the Internet Security Advisors Group, Ira Winkler; security audits, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing are the three main types of security diagnostics. Each of the three groups takes a different approach and may be best suited for a particular objective and purpose. Security audits measure an information system’s performance against a list of criteria. A vulnerability assessment, involves a comprehensive study of an entire information system, seeking potential security weaknesses. Penetration testing is a covert operation, in which a security expert tries a number of attacks to ascertain whether or not a system could resist the same types of attacks from a wicked hacker.
When it comes to protecting your business and a security audit is important to ensure that it establishes a good strategy and business plan. The security of your business issues affects your customer relations. Many people would be discouraged from addressing a business that is not safe. They may feel that business or other personal information that may be affected you. Your business should be safe and secure from risks then only your business can gain people’s trust. Every business should use security audits in the present scenario. The security audits are used to measure security policy compliance and recommend solutions to deficiencies in compliance.