Top 10 Tips To Pass Your Security Audit

The overall cost to the UK economy from cybercrime is £27bn per year and the majority of this is felt by business. It is accepted now that networks are not safe from cyber threats but how these attacks are identified and dealt with significantly impacts the cost of the breach and widely reaching consequences.

• 81% of large organisations and 60% of small businesses. have experienced a security breach.
• Average costs to a large organisation = £600k – £1.15m.
• Average costs to a small organisation = £65k – £115k.
• 71% of companies that experience a major data breach go out of business within 6 months.

Thus, there is no time like the present to work with your Chief Security Officer, Chief Information Officer, IT staff and compliance and risk personnel to review and bolster your cybersecurity policies and practices in anticipation of future regulatory action. With that in mind, here is a checklist of 10 critical items that can help your organization prepare for — and pass — its next cybersecurity audit.

1. Review policies and procedures. Evaluate your existing information security policies and procedures; if they are lacking, draft or update them immediately. Once in place, test them frequently to audit your organization’s compliance.

2. Inventory digital assets. Regularly review your organization’s stockpiles of hardware, software, databases, and servers. Don’t forget to account for all systems connecting to your networks, including third-party data storage such as cloud providers. Create a data map that identifies your organization’s data storage and enforces data-retention limits on ageing records.

3. Conduct a risk assessment. Schedule a regular assessment of risks. Once identified, prioritize the risks, take steps to remediate them, and document your actions.

4. Assign responsibility. At least one employee, if not a team, should be held responsible for maintaining the organization’s cybersecurity posture. Detail the duties of the position or team in writing and use metrics to hold them accountable.

5. Invest in cyber insurance. Take out a policy that addresses the potential losses from cyber breaches, including damage to digital assets, business interruption, and reputational harm. Adopting Cyber Essentials can be a low-cost and simple way to benefit from Cyber Insurance coverage whilst helping to reduce your risk of Cyber Attacks by up to 80%

6. Raise awareness. Many breaches are preventable, but policies alone are not enough to prevent inadvertent human errors. Your organization must take proactive steps to educate employees about the evolving threats associated with mobile devices, malware, phishing, and other cyber attacks. Conduct training at least annually for all new employees, and retain all training attendance records and materials.

7. Create an incident response plan. The plan should consist of an incident response protocol and a business continuity plan that addresses post-breach recovery. A cross-departmental team should oversee and carry out the plan. The plan should be a living document, so test and update it regularly.

8. Protect consumers and customers. Devise a plan for notifying affected people in the event of a cyber attack. If your employees are client-facing, train them to detect anomalous or fraudulent customer requests.

9. Assess third-party risk. Where possible, restrict third-party access to the company’s networks and sensitive data. All contracts with third parties should include terms that address information security and data breaches.

10. Secure the perimeter. Develop and follow written procedures for monitoring and detecting unauthorized access on networks and devices. Limit users’ access to only the network resources and data they need to perform their duties.