In this lesson
we're going to discuss internal audits and assessments.
Maintaining a robust and secure environment is challenging
and it involves not only implementing
strong security measures,
but also regularly evaluating the effectiveness
of those security measures.
Two key processes that help organizations achieve this
are internal audits and assessments.
Internal audits and assessments are proactive measures
that organizations undertake to ensure the robustness
of their security posture while they serve distinct purposes
and focus on different aspects
of an organization's security infrastructure.
First, we have internal audits.
Internal audits are systematic evaluations
conducted by an organization's own audit team
to assess the effectiveness of internal controls,
compliance with regulations,
and the integrity of information systems and processes.
Internal audits often focus on areas
such as data protection, network security,
access controls, and incident response procedures.
For example, an internal audit might involve a review
of the organization's password policies.
The audit team would check
whether the policies align with best practices
such as requiring complex passwords
and regular password changes
and whether these policies are being followed correctly
by all employees.
Another example would be an organization's
internal audit team deciding to conduct an audit
of the company's user access controls.
This audit is designed to ensure
that only authorized individuals have access
to sensitive data and systems.
The audit team begins by reviewing
the company's access control policies and procedures.
They check if these policies are in line again
with the best practices and regulatory requirements
such as the principle of least privilege
and the segregation of duties.
Next, the team will perform a detailed examination
of the access rights granted to different users
within the organization.
They verify whether employees have access rights
that align with their job responsibilities
and whether there are any instances of excessive
or unnecessary access.
The audit team will then check the processes for granting,
modifying and revoking access rights
to ensure that there are proper approval processes in place
that access rights are promptly revoked
when an employee leaves the company or changes roles.
Finally, the audit team test the effectiveness
of the access controls by attempting
to access certain systems or data using an account
with limited permissions.
If they're able to access resources
beyond the account's designated permissions
that will indicate a weakness in the access controls.
The findings from this audit would then be documented
and used to recommend improvements
to the company's access control policies procedures.
Now, when it comes to internal audits,
there are a few concepts that you should be familiar with
such as compliance requirements
and the creation of an audit committee.
Now, compliance refers to the process of ensuring
that an organization's information systems
and security practices adhere to established standards,
regulations, and laws.
Compliance is crucial for protecting sensitive data,
avoiding legal penalties,
and maintaining trust with customers and stakeholders.
Compliance can involve a variety of activities
including implementing specific security controls,
maintaining certain policies and procedures,
and regularly auditing and assessing
the organization's security posture.
This is why compliance is important
in terms of internal audit.
Since those internal audits may be required
by some governing law or regulation.
And to ensure compliance with those laws or regulations,
you need to conduct internal audits every quarter
or every year depending on
your industry compliance requirements.
Next, we have audit committees.
An audit committee is a group of individuals
typically members of the company's board of directors
who oversees the organization's audit
and compliance activities.
The audit committee's responsibilities often include
reviewing the organization's financial reporting processes
and internal controls,
overseeing the performance of internal and external audits,
ensuring the organization is in compliance
with legal and regulatory requirements,
and lastly, reviewing and addressing any issues
raised by auditors.
The second major category that we need to cover
is internal assessments.
Internal assessments are different from internal audits.
An internal assessment is used
to conduct an in-depth analysis to identify and evaluate
the potential risk and vulnerabilities
in the organization's information system.
These assessments are often performed
before implementing new systems
or before making significant changes to existing ones.
Most internal assessments are conducted as self-assessments.
These self-assessments are internal evaluations
that are conducted by our organization
to assess its compliance
with specific standards or regulations.
These assessments can be a valuable tool
for identifying gaps in an organization's compliance efforts
and for preparing them for formal audits.
For example, an organization might conduct
a vulnerability assessment on its network.
This would involve using automated tools
to scan the network for known vulnerabilities
such as outdated software or misconfigured firewalls.
The result of the assessment would then be used
to prioritize and address these vulnerabilities.
Another example will be if a software company
is planning to launch a new web application.
Before the launch,
the company security team conducts an internal assessment
to identify potential security risk and vulnerability.
In addition to conducting self-assessments
as part of your internal assessments,
if your organization is large enough
you might also have a dedicated internal assessment group
who travels across the enterprise and helps to assess
the organization's massive sprawling enterprise network.
Regardless of whether a self-assessment
or an assisted internal assessment is being conducted,
the assessors will follow the same basic steps
to conduct their assessment.
Let's walk through an example of your organization
wanting to launch a new web application
into their production environment.
First, the assessment begins with a threat modeling exercise
where the team identifies potential threats
to your application such as a SQL injection,
cross-site scripting, and a denial of service attack.
Next, the team conducts a vulnerability assessment
using a combination of automated scanning tools
and manual testing techniques.
They will systematically test the application
for known vulnerabilities
and any potential weaknesses in this code.
Then the team will perform a risk assessment
to evaluate the potential impact
of the identified threats and vulnerability.
The team will also consider factors
such as the likelihood of the threat being exploited,
the potential damage that it could cause,
and the cost of implementing security measures.
Based on the results of their assessment up to this point
the team will recommend mitigation strategies
to address the identified risk and vulnerabilities.
These might include code fixes,
implementation of additional security controls,
or changes to the application's architecture.
This internal assessment is then used to help the company
to proactively address potential security issues
so that they can reduce the risk of security breaches
after the application is launched
into your production environment.
So remember, both internal audits and assessments
are proactive measures to ensure the robustness
of an organization's security posture.
Internal audits focus on evaluating
the effectiveness of internal controls
and compliance with regulations.
While internal assessments aim to identify and evaluate
potential risk and vulnerabilities.
The results of these audits and assessments
should be used to make necessary improvements
to the organization's security practices.
Regular audits and assessments
are crucial for maintaining a strong security posture
and for ensuring ongoing compliance with internal policies
and external regulatory requirements.