IT Audit

What is an IT Security audit?

An IT security audit will compare the organization’s current IT security controls to the regulatory or Best Practices standards specifically relevant to the organization. The process includes procedures to collect and examine data and practices which impact the effectiveness of the IT security program, and to help identify gaps in processes that could result in a security breach.

Why does an organization need an IT audit?

An organization that relies on Information Technology as a critical business function must ensure that the IT infrastructure is secure and dependable. The IT infrastructure must ensure the security and integrity of its confidential information, including its customers’ non-public, personal information (NPPI). Without the proper IT security controls, the organization can not manage its IT security risks. Regulations, guidelines and Best Practices have developed standards to guide organizations in securing their confidential data. These standards require an organization to conduct regular independent audits of its IT security controls in order to protect its IT infrastructure, including its customers’ confidential information. An IT security audit will compare the organization’s existing information security controls to the standards established by these regulations and/or Best Practices.

Why do organizations fail to perform regular IT audit?

Because of the high costs associated with performing an independent or regulatory IT Audit and the amount of employee time that is invested in the process, organizations frequently fail to perform regular IT Audits, leaving a gap in their security program. Other organizations have developed methods to perform internal audits that are inefficient, do not follow best practice or regulatory standards, and/or lack repeatability.

How does Trace IT Audit Manager enable an organization to perform regular IT audit?

With TraceSecurity IT Audit Manager, your organization can ensure that its internal IT Audit is performed using regulatory and Best Practices guidelines. These guidelines will help the organization efficiently compile and evaluate the pertinent organizational data related to governance, controls, policies, and procedures to prepare for regulatory or independent IT audits. The business and regulatory standards are then analyzed against organizational standards and regulatory controls. The solution aligns closely with FFIEC and Best Practices Audits and radically simplifies the audit process for the organization. TraceSecurity IT Audit Manager empowers your IT staff to develop standard, repeatable IT Audit processes that are thorough, simple, and most importantly, accurate.

Trace IT Audit Manager offers many benefits to your organization:

Reduces employee resource costs of IT audits

  • Streamlines the entire IT audit process through a preconfigured online questionnaire model.
  • Manages the audit trail and supporting documents that increases efficiency and reduces time needed to perform future audits.
  • Expert-guided answers greatly shorten the audit period.
  • Color-coded flags simplify the process allowing partial completion to be saved and completed at a later time.
  • Leverages previous audit responses to minimize the time associated with controls that have not changed since the previous audit.

Develops a standard, repeatable audit process

  • Can easily be mapped to company-specific regulations and standards.
  • Customizable levels of audit; one size does NOT fit all.
  • Online questionnaire guides multiple employees through the same audit methodologies providing a standardized audit process.

Creates standardized accurate reports and thoroughly prepares the IT department for audits by regulatory boards

  • User note section helps create the audit trail and lessens the time wasted trying to track information during examiner review.
  • Creates a concise executive summary for management, board of directors and auditors.
  • Consistent reporting allows easy referencing during audit reviews.

TraceAudit is delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, which means that the application is hosted and managed by TraceSecurity and is accessed via a web browser. The SaaS solution provides the following benefits:

  • Minimizes implementation and management costs to the organization.
  • Reduces deployment time of the solution.
  • Reduces the employee time associated with the deployment.
  • Makes the solution available to any authorized user, anytime and anywhere, with an internet connection.
  • Eliminates the impact on the organizations network utilization.

TraceAudit is a standalone solution that can be integrated with TraceCompliance Manager providing a single interface to manage the IT Security Compliance process.