What is an IT Audit?

Because of the many different businesses that provide and assist with cybersecurity across the country, some definitions can blend together. Whenever someone needs an IT audit, there are many things that they can mean. There is no real central definition of what an IT audit is, but there are some similarities between each one.

While not all cybersecurity firms will match, what matters is if it will cover everything that is needed. Regardless of how you look at it, an IT audit is there to satisfy examiners who make sure institutions are following government regulations. It is important to know what a cybersecurity firm has under the umbrella that is an “IT audit”, but usually, they contain at least the minimum necessary to pass an examination.

What is an IT audit?

Since the definitions can differ between information security firms, this article will focus on TraceSecurity’s methodology when it comes to these audits. These IT audits will:

• Validate security controls, meaning a thorough review of everything that is protecting your network, including firewalls, permissions, authentication, and more.
• Meet compliance requirements, which are put in place by the government. Examiners will be looking for certain things based around the FDIC, NCUA, and others depending on the type of institution.
• Framework alignment, based around many different frameworks like the NIST, FFIEC, CIS, PCI DSS, and more.
• Ongoing control management through software, which can document artifacts and configure reporting for security controls.

While many IT audits are required by financial institutions, it is a good idea for non-financial institutions to get them as well. They are normally needed every year, but if it’s a larger organization, it may be needed more often to satisfy regulations.

It is common for cybersecurity firms to have certain amounts of controls per the size of the organizations. For example, when it comes to TraceSecurity, there are three tiers that each audit is put under:

• Tier 1, including over 100 control verifications, which is optimized for small organizations of all types.
• Tier 2, which goes up to over 150 controls with a standard control set for medium-sized organizations.
• Tier 3, including over 200 controls of cybersecurity defenses, which is suited for larger and more mature organizations.

It is sometimes difficult to find an IT audit for smaller institutions, but some cybersecurity firms specialize in this area. There is no organization that is the same, so it’s a good idea to find a firm that will adjust to your needs.

Common IT Audit Findings

For those new to IT audits, the controls in an organization can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, there are a few easy ways to understand what they are and what they might be, which we have discussed in a webinar previously. Some of these include:

• Performance Event and Problem Detection: active IT issue detection, which monitors critical systems.
• Ethernet Port Configuration: User and device verifications, which can stop bad actors from connecting.
• Centralized Log Storage: The aggregation, retention, and protection of important system information.
• File Integrity Monitoring (FIM): System baselines of installing new devices involving specific steps.
• Network Intrusion Detection (NIDS) and Prevention (NIPS): detects and alerts for suspicious activity.
• Data Leak Prevention (DLP): Locking down drives to restrict use of removable storage information. This can also be used to mask sensitive information and secure file transfers.
• Removable Storage Media Restrictions: USB drives, SD cards, portable hard drive, and others can be used for data theft, malware, and policy violations.
• Out-of-Band Verification: This deals with high-risk transactions, which may be handled outside of your electronic banking system.
• Consumer Account Password Standards: This lowers the chance of human failure since it is one of the biggest sources of cyberattacks. These standards should create strong, unique, and regularly rotated passwords.
• Vendor and Supplier Due Diligence: With supply chain attacks becoming more common, third-party vendors and suppliers should be done frequently and with the utmost scrutiny.

Conclusion

IT audits are an important part of any financial institution. They are required by the government, regardless of the size of the organization. Thankfully, there are different requirements based on asset size, and some cybersecurity firms specialize in these different tiers. It all depends on the amount of controls in place for the financial institution, including firewalls, policies, connections, and other network situations.

These audits don’t have to be a stressful time. There are plenty of financial institutions that may not know what to do or how to perform these government-required processes. A good information security firm will walk through a new or inexperienced organization with careful consideration, making sure that they and their customers are protected against bad actors.