Why You Need An Independent Security Audit

What You Should Know About Independent Security Audits

Cybercrime costs in 2018 amounted to $3 trillion, and are forecasted to rise to $6 trillion by 2021, according to the Official 2019 Annual Cybercrime Report, by Cybersecurity Ventures.

This report reveals that this represents the most significant transfer of economic wealth in history and will be more profitable than the global trade of all major illegal drugs combined. It seems that “cybercrime does pay.”

What can you do to protect your organizations? Security Audits are a critical component in risk assessment and prevention. With an independent auditor looking at your processes, policies, and governance issues, you’ll get a clear picture of your risk.

To Protect Your Business You Need An Information Risk Management Strategy

This is a business strategy that locates your most valuable assets and who might want to gain control over them. What adverse effects could your company experience if this happens? What would regulators determine if they found these assets were at risk? What costs might you incur due to information risk? An Independent Security Audit will address these questions.

Independent Security Audits Are Essential To Prevent Cyber Risks

Your Independent Security Auditors will offer an array of assessments, both strategic and technical. Your Security Audit may include the following:

• IT Infrastructure Review: This is an inventory of your IT architecture, hardware, software, and how they interconnect.
• Security Posture Assessment: Is your current security in line with best practices? Is it proactive or reactive? Is it aligned with your company’s goals? This Assessment will answer these and other questions about your current security status.
• Regulations Assessment: A comparison of your security posture against required compliance for government and industry regulations. (HIPAA, PCI, GLBA, etc.)
• Controls Assessment: A comparison of your security posture against defined controls such as NIST, SANS CAG, OWASP, etc.
• A Risk Assessment: This identifies things that could result in a data breach. It determines what’s at risk and the potential impact if your systems were attacked.
• Application Assessment: This identifies particular software and application targets, such as mobile or web applications.
• Vulnerability Assessment: An assessment and review of your organization’s controls to mitigate potential vulnerabilities. It identifies what areas must be shored up with controls and processes to protect your organization.
• Penetration Test: Ethically hack your network to find areas a hacker could exploit.
• Prioritize Security Issues: This prioritizes issues based on the likelihood that a breach will occur. It categorizes and prioritizes your required security program investment.
• Incident Management: Establishes a process of response when a security incident is discovered, and the necessary response to protect your organization.

You Also Need a Comprehensive Technical Assessment & Remediation

This includes external, internal, wireless, and social engineering assessments targeted at specific technology assets such as:

• Security Assessments of external-facing routers, firewalls, remote access connections (VPNs), and Internet-accessible servers.
• Internal Network Security Assessments, including servers, workstations, storage systems, and databases, and technical vulnerabilities that can be exploited to gain unauthorized access to your IT system.
• Process Assessments to review operating systems and patch management practices.
• Wireless Security Assessments of your access-point configurations and placement, broadcast signal patterns, and network segmentation for guest Wi-Fi.
• Social Engineering Assessments to determine if hackers could gain access to your IT systems or data by phishing, solicitation, or physical access to vulnerable areas.

You Face Both Technology & Human Factor Risks

Cybercrime is more than a technology problem. The right cybersecurity measures are essential, but the human component presents much of the risk that enables cyberattacks, and it can be your weakest link. This factor must be included in any assessment and strategy.

You Must Engage With a Firm That Understands Your Business & Regulations

When choosing your Independent Security Auditor, you need one who knows what to look for and can provide solutions and services to protect your data. We provide all of the above and more.

Along with your Independent Security Assessment, we can provide the Managed IT Services you need to ensure your systems are protected and reliable 24/7. We also offer Security Awareness Training to address the human component of risk.

This is an optional add-on to our Independent Security Audit that we’ll be happy to detail and price out a comprehensive service for your particular organization.

For more information, contact Centerpoint IT at info@centerpointit.com or call (404) 777-0147