Your 12 Step Cyber Security Audit Cheat Sheet

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12 Steps to prepare your company for a full cyber security audit:

One of the scariest aspects of cyber security, is that oftentimes a company can be in the midst of a cyber security attack and not even realise it. Recently we reviewed a case study detailing a major ransomware attack on a packaging company in the UK. Whilst the attack appeared to many to have happened almost instantly, the truth is that the attack was in fact put in place over 90 days before, with a simple email and a dodgy clicked link.

Within hours of activation, files were encrypted and lost, servers shut down, and pandemonium ensued. The scariest part about all of this, it could very well be happening to any one of us at any time, and most companies simply do not realise.

So how do you find out about what your issues are? How can you possibly know what’s happening to you from a cyber security perspective. How do you work out your weaknesses and vulnerabilities? You contact an outside professional and let them highlight what you’re doing well and most importantly what you could improve.

If that sounds like it’s outside your budget then SURPRISE! We’re willing to offer you a cyber security audit absolutely free of charge. No strings attached either, just a complete breakdown of your vulnerabilities and what you can do to improve. To get started on this, simply follow the link here.

How to prepare for a Cyber Security Audit

So you’ve gone ahead and decided you’d like to figure out what’s going right and what’s going wrong with your cyber security. Even if you haven’t decided to take us up on our offer of a free one, may we say you’ve made an absolutely fantastic choice. But is it wise to just sit back and wait for the audit to happen? Also what if you still would prefer to do the audit internally with your own team?

We’ve been doing these for a long time and in our experience, preparation makes almost everything run better and smoother. By preparing your team for a cyber security audit, you eliminate a lot of the surprise and you also allow the professionals undertaking the audit the best chance of success.

With that in mind, we’ve put together a handy cheat sheet of 12 things you can do to prepare for success when you’ve decided to perform a security audit:

1. Understand the Scope:

First, you need to understand the scope of the audit. Determine what areas of your company’s cybersecurity practices will be evaluated. This might include areas like network security, data protection, access controls, incident response, etc. What you cover in your audit will be decided by the time and budget constraints your company has in place as well as the industry you are in.

2. Identify Relevant Industry Regulations and Standards:

It is essential that before you undertake an audit you take care to familiarise yourself with the relevant cybersecurity regulations and standards that may apply to your industry. This could include GDPR, NIST and Cyber Essentials, etc. These can be weighty amounts of information but it is vital that you have at least a basic understanding of what they are and how they apply to your industry.

3. Conduct a Risk Assessment:

Perform a thorough risk assessment to identify potential vulnerabilities and risks to your organisation’s cybersecurity. This will help you to fully prioritise any areas that are in need of immediate attention and resources. Unless you’re farming this out to external experts (us!) you probably won’t have the time and resources to commit to a full scrub of your cyber security.

4. Document Policies and Procedures:

Proper processes and documentation is vital to a business. Whilst we aren’t suggesting you create a document for every mundane task in your business, we’ve seen people write processes for opening a word document, it is still important that you insure that your company has documented cybersecurity policies and procedures in place. This includes policies for data protection, access control, incident response, employee training, etc.

5. Implement Security Controls:

Most organisations will have basic cyber protections in place. Make sure these are in place and functioning as they should. This could include firewalls, intrusion detection systems, encryption, And multi factor authentication.

6. Employee Training and Awareness:

At Jera IT, one of our core values is relentless learning. It stands us in good stead when it comes to the ever changing nature of cyber crime. By committing to training your employees on cybersecurity best practices you ensure they are aware of their roles and responsibilities in maintaining security. Regular training and awareness programs can help prevent security breaches caused by human error.

7. Monitor and Update Systems Regularly:

By keeping your systems and software up to date you eliminate a lot of risk for your business. It also keeps you safe in the knowledge that if something does go wrong, you’re in a good position to receive support from the company responsible for the software.

8. Perform Internal Audits:

The first step, even if you have decided to use an external company to perform the full audit, should be to conduct regular internal audits of your cybersecurity practices. identify areas for improvement and ensure ongoing compliance with regulations and standards.

9. Engage External Experts:

At the end of the day, we’re often too close to the trees to see the wood. Sometimes it’s a massive benefit to your team to bring in experts who do this full time. Consider hiring external cybersecurity experts or consultants to conduct a thorough audit of your systems and practices. They can provide an objective assessment and offer recommendations for improvement that your team may not think of.

10. Prepare Documentation and Evidence:

Gather documentation and evidence to demonstrate compliance with regulations and standards. This could include policies, procedures, audit logs, incident response plans, training records, etc.

11. Address Findings and Remediate Issues:

After the audit, address any findings or issues identified and take corrective action as necessary. Implement recommendations from the audit report to improve your company’s cybersecurity posture.

12. Continuous Improvement:

Cybersecurity is an ongoing process, so continue to monitor, assess, and improve your cybersecurity practices to adapt to new threats and regulatory changes.

We hope this has convinced you to perform an audit, and also given you a handy cyber security audit cheat sheet to share with your team. If you’re still unsure of what to do or how to get started, reach out for a chat and we’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.