In the last few years, companies from all industries have been developing cloud technologies. While they hope to gain a competitive edge by staying up to date, new technology adoptions always come with unknown risks in the form of hacks and data breaches[GmbH,n.d.]. Hackers pose a severe threat to company security, so technical risk management and understanding the importance of IT audits have become increasingly important.
About IT Audit
IT audit is an information system audit, as known as IT supervision. IT auditors use objective criteria to calibrate activities and products related to planning, development, and evaluation. Through an IT audit, companies can determine whether existing IT controls protect company assets, ensure data integrity, and align with the organisation’s business and financial controls.
Like any other type of audit, an IT audit can include the task of providing assurance or recommendations. IT audits typically assess and report on the process and control environment surrounding IT systems within an enterprise to effectively manage the risks to which the entity is exposed[Deloitte Malta, n.d.].
The objectives of an IT Audit
Audit objectives are developed during the planning phase of the audit engagement and are directly aligned with the business objectives of the area or process being reviewed. Most engagements focus on ensuring that controls are in place to effectively mitigate risks that might prevent an area or process from accomplishing its business objectives[Harvard.edu, 2022].
- Achieve business goals and objectives
- Reliability and Integrity of Information
- Maintained assets
- Efficient use of resources
- Comply with essential policies, procedures, laws, and regulations
The Responsibilities of IT Auditors
- Develop and evaluate the audit process and report on audit results
- Apply established auditing standards across the infrastructure
- Audit and evaluate all aspects of the company’s web applications, including software, procedures, security and communications
- Set up risk profiles for projects and how they affect the business
- Oversee the auditing process for various user interfaces and applications, including client-based applications, intranets, extranets, and all connected servers and networks
The types of IT Audit Services
Several types of audits can be distinguished by their focus areas and methods.
- Systems and Applications Audit the purpose of this audit is to verify that all systems and applications used by the organisation are effective and adequately controlled. Check that these systems are reliable, timely and secure, as well as input, processing, and output at all activity levels [Codete Blog, 2022].
- Systems development the purpose of this type of audit is to verify that the system being developed meets all the key business objectives of the organisation, Information systems auditors ensure that systems are designed to prevailing standards in the field before use [Codete Blog, 2022].
- Cloud Vendor Audit, the goal is to see the overall performance of the provider and whether they meet all established controls, best practices, and SLAs [Codete Blog, 2022].
- Security Audit, the security audit popper, highlights weaknesses or opportunities cybercriminals may have to infiltrate systems. We can differentiate between various types of IT security audits, such as risk assessments, penetration testing, compliance audits, and vulnerability assessments [Codete Blog, 2022].
Reference:
GmbH, L. (n.d.). IT Audit – The Definition and Role | LeanIX. [online] www.leanix.net. Available at: <https://www.leanix.net/en/wiki/ea/it-audit#IT-audit-objectives/>[Accessed 1 November. 2022].
Deloitte Malta. (n.d.). IT Auditing processes and relevance to business | Deloitte Malta | Risk Advisory | Cyber Risk article. [online] Available at: <https://www2.deloitte.com/mt/en/pages/risk/articles/mt-risk-article-it-auditing-process.html/>[Accessed 1 November. 2022].
Harvard.edu. (2022). What are the objectives of an IT audit? [online] Available at: <https://rmas.fad.harvard.edu/faq/what-are-objectives-it-audit/>[Accessed 1 November. 2022].
Codete Blog. (2022). What is an IT Audit – Definition, Examples & Types. [online] Available at: <https://codete.com/blog/it-audit-definition-examples-and-types/>[Accessed 1 November. 2022].