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In the first quarter of 2024, security vendors reported the average weekly number of cyberattacks per organization had increased 28% to 1308 from the previous year. One way organizations can take a proactive approach to their security posture is through cybersecurity audits to stay ahead of cyber threats. Businesses must always stay one step ahead of potential threats, regardless of your business mission or what it specializes in.
Businesses greatly benefit from cybersecurity audits, which can be an utter game changer in proactively safeguarding the business's operations by doing everything within its ability to ensure long-term success. Cybersecurity audits help organizations identify vulnerabilities, comply with regulations, improve incidence response capabilities, build customer trust, gain a competitive edge, and mitigate risks effectively. Cybersecurity audits are also a requirement for most standards and frameworks.
By addressing vulnerabilities, organizations can mitigate the risk of data breaches, hacking attempts, and financial losses. A security audit ensures adherence to properly protecting customer data to avoid legal repercussions and meeting requirements like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS.) Both requirements instill trust in customers and avoid costly penalties.
Benefits from conducting a cyber security audit include:
Stronger security posture. Regular audits ensure data protection measures are effective and up to date while helping to identify security weaknesses and vulnerabilities. They also hold employees and departments accountable for their role in maintaining the security structure.
Continuous compliance. Regular audits ensure that the organization remains compliant with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards to avoid potential legal penalties and non-compliance fines. The key to demonstrating continuous compliance is through regular audits. Continuous compliance enhances the customers’ confidence, as well as the commitment to security from partners and other stakeholders.
Better third-party risk management. Regular audits can assess the security practices of third-party vendors to ensure that they are not introducing additional risk while showing a commitment to maintaining high security standards.
Proactive reputation management. By protecting the security posture demonstrated by regular audits, an organization has a competitive advantage in attracting security-conscious customers and partners. Additionally, it can also lead to lower premiums for required cybersecurity insurance.
There are also benefits to continuously monitoring over point-and-time cybersecurity audits:
Static snapshots vs. real-time insights. Cybersecurity audits offer a snapshot of the security posture at a specific point in time. However, this approach does not account for the rapidly changing threat landscape or the constant evolution of the organization’s IT environment. Because audits are typically conducted on an annual or semiannual basis, vulnerabilities can go undetected for months. This leaves the organization exposed to potential attacks. Continuous monitoring always provides ongoing real-time visibility into the organization’s security posture, allowing the security teams to detect and respond to threats as they emerge, rather than wait for the next audit cycle to identify and address issues.
Reactive vs. proactive approach. The reactive approach means that the security teams are always playing catchup to address outstanding vulnerabilities and compliance issues. However, the proactive approach often involves the implementation of not just continuous monitoring measures, but also the incorporation of automated tools. These are designed to flag deviations as they occur, allowing for immediate corrective actions.
Why do companies not secure their cybersecurity internal audits each year? This is where the phrase “out of sight and out of mind” comes into play. This can be explained by comparing an internal audit to either a house plant or a dog. If you view internal audits as a houseplant, they’re not bothering you for attention and could be forgotten until it’s time for the audit to occur. A dog, however, is in your face and demanding attention. Internal cyber security audits should take the same level of attention you would show your dog. Ensure you have your internal audit planned and scheduled each year.
How often should cyber security audits be done? Most organizations feel that audits should be conducted on an annual basis. However, depending on the importance the organization places on the protection of the data and the ongoing daily rise of ever-increasing threats from hackers worldwide, many organizations are now entertaining the emergence of monthly or even weekly audits. Organizations undergoing significant changes like mergers, acquisitions, or major IT infrastructure updates are considered high-risk and would greatly benefit from having audits performed on a quarterly or at least semiannual basis.
It really comes down to the competitive advantage that the company places on maintaining its reputation against its competitors. By maintaining security audits at least on an annual basis, these same organizations who invest heavily in audits can then use this as a major selling point that differentiates them from competitors.
This attitude often pays for itself in the long run with the emergence of ongoing business relationships. Every organization needs to do its homework, which is to hire a reputational security auditing team and entertain the idea of ongoing security audits being performed every quarter. This is essential to fully maximize the company’s potential.
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