How to Conduct a Successful IT Audit

If your organization is a start-up, a hardware or software company, a government agency, or a smaller non-profit, then you’ve probably been advised to conduct an IT audit. An IT audit can help you identify problems with your IT systems and evaluate the quality of your IT departments. In this post, we will walk through the steps of doing a proper IT audit, and discuss the key areas that you should look at during the process. We’ll also cover what to look for when you’re conducting an IT audit in your organization. If you need more information, check out TNSC for an IT Audit.

What is an IT audit?

IT auditing is an official investigation launched by a firm to look into its information systems, processes, management, and controls. Firms normally do this to measure if the automated system they have put in place is working well by protecting their assets and data. The integrity of these data should align with the objectives of the organisation. It serves to ensure that the firm has business continuity. Several types of IT audits exist. These audits can be categorized into two:

• General control IT audit– This is a security audit carried out in all departments of the organization to carry out risk assessments. It is an overview of IT auditing in each department of an organisation. It ensures the integrity of these data inputs and processes.
• Application control IT audit – This is an audit process that is launched to assess a specific transaction or process linked with a software application. It audits the application’s security, accuracy, and validity.

Importance of an IT audit to a firm.

With the recent rise in automation of services, companies have realised how having routinely scheduled IT audit is important. Many have invested more time and resources to carry out the audit. Some of the merits that firms stand to reap from holding frequent IT audits include:

• Firms will be able to identify risks that they are facing and mitigate them. It ensures that there is a going concern of the business.
• The audits ensure that a firm meets its data protection legislation by ensuring the set controls protect sensitive data against any external influence
• IT auditing also ensures that the set controls are bolstered since the firm will be able to evaluate them
• Security of communication and network platforms of the firm.

When to perform an IT audit

Firms normally have a policy recommended by their auditor. More often, the policy dictates the number of times that an IT audit should be carried out in a financial year. Most firms usually audit their high-risk and crucial systems and processes every quarter. It is a standard practice to ensure smooth operations.

Step wise guide of an IT audit

We have already highlighted the importance of having an IT audit. To carry out a well organized and fruitful audit, a firm should break the whole process into the following five steps:

• Planning the Information systems audit by ensuring that all stakeholders are aware and ready to participate in the audit.
• Measuring and evaluating the current controls
• Assessment of the controls
• Reporting the final results.
• Follow up the implementation process of the report’s recommendations.

Key areas to concentrate on when IT auditing

There are huge losses incurred with the disruption of IT processes in an organisation. These disruptions are due to destruction or wear and tear. To avoid this, a company usually carries out a comprehensive IT audit. The following are four areas that a firm should concentrate and be keen on during the auditing process:

• Physical and network securities- here a firm ensures that firewalls, server rooms, software, and wireless networks are safe and that sensitive data is stored safely.
• Compliance with constitutional, economic blocks, and industrial requirement regulations.
• Company information backup.
• Available hardware and the remaining lifetime of each hardware.