Information Security Audit

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does Information Security Audit Mean?

An information security audit occurs when a technology team conducts an organizational review to ensure that the correct and most up-to-date processes and infrastructure are being applied. An audit also includes a series of tests that guarantee that information security meets all expectations and requirements within an organization. During this process, employees are interviewed regarding security roles and other relevant details.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains Information Security Audit

Every organization should perform routine security audits to ensure that data and assets are protected. First, the audit’s scope should be decided and include all company assets related to information security, including computer equipment, phones, network, email, data and any access-related items, such as cards, tokens and passwords. Then, past and potential future asset threats must be reviewed. Anyone in the information security field should stay apprised of new trends, as well as security measures taken by other companies. Next, the auditing team should estimate the amount of destruction that could transpire under threatening conditions. There should be an established plan and controls for maintaining business operations after a threat has occurred, which is called an intrusion prevention system.

In the audit process, evaluating and implementing business needs are top priorities. The SANS Institute offers an excellent checklist for audit purposes.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.