​Information Technology Audit: Purpose, Processes, and Best Practices

Nowadays, technology and progress play a key role in the development of society. The vast majority of decisions now rely on information systems. Therefore, it is very important to be confident that these systems are safe, effective, and perform all the assigned business functions. This is where information technology audit, or IT audit, comes into play.

If you think that an IT audit is simply checking the system according to a checklist, then this is wrong. IT audit is a comprehensive assessment of the system and infrastructure as a whole, their security, and the ability to work properly. In this article, our team will discuss topics such as the meaning of IT audits, their importance for business, and their benefits.

Information Technology Audit Explanation

IT audit is an objective examination and evaluation of an organization's information systems and its IT infrastructure in order to identify weaknesses and areas for improvement. In other words, IT audits focus on the integrity of the system, its operational efficiency, and data protection. Therefore, the scope of IT audits may include the following:

• Software. Verifying the correct functioning of the software, compliance of the code with best coding practices, checking the security of the code and identifying weaknesses, assessing the software for compliance with regulatory compliance rules, assessing test coverage, architectural aspects, licensing, etc.

• Hardware. Hardware is an important aspect that contributes to the stable operation of the organization's critical software. The audit includes aspects such as checking servers, routers, computers, data storage, and processing devices etc. IT audit takes into account not only the presence of equipment, but also the correctness of its connection, integrity, and operational efficiency.

• Data. Data is one of the critical aspects, as many organizations work with confidential data, so its integrity and security are the number one priority. Regarding data, there are the following checks: checking the integrity of the data, the ways it is collected and stored, the features of providing access to the data, the adequacy of data backup and storage, etc.

• Costs. Sometimes companies face irrational use of funds or constant budget increases without understanding the reasons. IT audit helps to identify problems of unnecessary costs, correct allocation of funds, and identify problem areas.

• Processes. This includes assessing processes and governance, the effectiveness of IT operations, their stability, and feasibility etc. Incident management, change management, IT governance, service delivery, documentation, common software development process, and efficiency of the engineering teams - all these can be included in the audit.

• People. This includes managing human resources and the human elements of IT security and operations. People can be both a powerful resource and a weak link in the security system. First of all, the audit checks how the organization trains people, controls and verifies the performance of duties, their distribution among personnel, compliance with all rules, and compliance of behavior with company rules.

Information Technology Audit Processes

IT audit, like any other process, has specific stages. We have tried to summarize this information and present it in the form of a detailed description.

• Planning and defining key audit points. The planning phase of an IT audit is fundamental as it helps to identify the needs of the organization and plan the scope of the audit. The planning phase may include the following: understanding the context of the specific organization, its policies, structure, IT systems; defining the scope of the audit (outlining the areas, systems, and processes that will be audited); identifying key individuals (who are the main decision makers and owners of the processes where IT auditors will be involved); conducting preliminary interviews with department heads; analyzing and reviewing previous audit results and making changes (if any).

• Risk assessment and identification of the greatest threats. After finalizing an IT audit plan, auditors can move on to the next stage, namely risk assessment. This involves analyzing the organization's environment, potential areas of highest risk probability, their probability, and potential impact. Key aspects of the activity here include: asset inventory review, threat analysis, identification of vulnerabilities, prioritization of risks, etc.

• Control evaluation. This is one of the main phases of an IT audit, where auditors do their main work of evaluating systems and identifying problem areas. The goal is to determine that existing controls are not just working, but are functioning properly.

• Reporting the findings and recommendations. After all the audit work is completed, a detailed report should be generated, which will include a detailed description with conclusions regarding the findings and recommendations for improvements and elimination of problematic areas. This report is the most important in the audit process, because it is a technical conclusion with correct technical recommendations.

• Follow-up. Verifying changes and corrections to processes, systems, and approaches. This phase ensures that the organization is actually taking effective measures to correct gaps and improve processes and security.

Main Benefits of Information Technology Audit

Main benefits of ordering IT audit services:

• Improved security. IT auditing identifies vulnerabilities in systems and their main weaknesses, which helps to correct all these in a timely manner and improve data security measures and the organization as a whole.

• Regulatory compliance. IT audits help verify compliance with all industry standards and regulations.

• Process optimization and assessment of their efficiency. IT audits help identify inefficient processes that are outdated or redundant, or those processes that impact productivity.

• Data integrity, availability, and security. IT audits verify whether data is accurate, reliable, secure, and complete.

• Access control and user accountability.

• Improved employee awareness and training. IT audits often assess not only the systems themselves, but also the behavior and skills of people in relevant positions.

• Continuous improvement and internal control validation.

• Better decision-making based on the reports. 

Conclusion

In this article, we have gathered the common information about IT audits and their purposes. IT audits are an essential part of the stable operation of enterprise organizations. Each business has its reasons for ordering services from a professional IT audit company. IT audits help companies monitor their processes, IT systems, infrastructures, and approaches, and make changes to them to increase efficiency.