The Brief Guide That Makes Conducting a Cybersecurity Audit Simple

It’s hard to deny the fact that cybersecurity is a more significant threat than ever. When companies suffer damages of $6 trillion in 2021 because of cybercrime, you can’t afford to fall into those statistics. Luckily, there is a process you can go through to secure your company against online threats.

If you plan on investing in a cybersecurity audit for your company in the future, you’ll need to know how to do it right. Follow the guide below to ensure your IT department manages your audit correctly.

Create an Inventory

It’s hard to create a cybersecurity policy when you don’t know what you need to protect. As time goes on, you’ll introduce a lot of computer equipment to your network. If you don’t have an inventory of these devices, you can’t protect everything.

That’s why creating an inventory is the first step of an excellent cybersecurity audit. Look at your network to see all your devices. If you see something unknown, track it down on your network and note what everything is.

Classify Your Sensitive Data

The chances are good that not all your company data is sensitive. It doesn’t make sense to put security procedures for data that don’t matter. However, that doesn’t mean you can leave everything unprotected and hope for the best.

Look through all your current data and separate everything that would be a problem if a hacker gained access. This is the data you’ll need to secure on a server and put access control methods in place to protect.

Understand Your Compliance Requirements

Not every company will have the same compliance requirements for cybersecurity. If you don’t deal with highly-sensitive information, there aren’t strict rules for you to follow. However, if you work in a regulated industry like healthcare and finance, that isn’t the case.

Make sure you research what your requirements are for cybersecurity for your audit. You want to make sure you hit all those requirements and not leave anything out. If you don’t do what’s asked of you, it can cause you to get in trouble with the government if something ever goes wrong.

Get an External Audit

Even if you do everything you can to protect your company data, there’s always the chance that you’ll make a simple mistake. Even the best cybersecurity professionals do it at times. That’s why getting a third-party audit to validate your security procedures is beneficial.

Look for cybersecurity experts in your area to take on the task. They’ll audit your network, find potential issues, and help you create a plan to solve those problems. They can also help you learn about the cybersecurity threats to look for to stay safe in the future.

Don’t Cut Corners With Your Cybersecurity Audit

Cybersecurity is something you can’t ignore in today’s world. There are more threats online than ever, and that trend isn’t likely to change in the future. Make sure you use the guide above to help prepare a cybersecurity audit that will give you enough information to make your company secure.

Of course, you’ll need to have a solid IT infrastructure if you want your cybersecurity audit to be worth doing. Check out the blog to learn more about building the tech setup your company needs to thrive.