Seven reasons why a cyber security audit is an essential part of your cyber risk management strategy …

With the ever-present and increasing cyber threat to organisations no matter the size, conducting a cyber security audit to reduce cyber risk should be high on the agenda. These days, cyber security isn’t simply about technology and protecting data. It is also about safeguarding people’s private information and protecting key business systems and processes. 

Considering the recent spate of cyber breaches that have affected organisations, hospitals and companies across the globe, these breaches highlight the increasing sophistication and persistence of cyberattacks. It is unsurprising that cyber risk mitigation has moved up the corporate and government agenda for 2018.

Mid-2016 Yahoo disclosed that in 2013 and 2014 it had been a victim in of two huge security breaches, where data associated with at least 500 million accounts had been stolen then not even three months later a second breach had affected more than one billion accounts.

Another high profile cybersecurity incident, reported earlier this year, was US credit monitoring company Equifax where the sensitive personal information of 143 million Americans and 700,000 in the UK were exposed.

These two examples are just a snapshot of some of the major cyber security breaches experienced by high profile organisations proving that no business is immune to cyber security breaches, regardless of their size.

Many businesses do not recognise how much has changed in the digital age, treating cyber security and cyber risk as nothing more than the IT department’s problem, leaving them unknowingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

A cyber security audit allows businesses to manage their risk, discover any gaps in their defenses and highlight key areas that need to be urgently addressed. Here are seven reasons why companies should incorporate a regular cyber security audit into their business processes.

 

1. Flexible remote work policies increase cyber risk

Employees want continuous, real time access to their information anytime, anywhere and as technology becomes more omnipresent the cyber risk increases. Along with the increasing popularity of a flexible working environment where working remotely is becoming the norm, organisations are increasingly at risk of unforeseen and unexpected cyberattacks.

Since both employees and their data are no longer confined within an office’s four walls, a solid baseline of cyber security policies is critical in preventing the employees cyber activities from becoming the back door into the businesses systems.

An audit provides a crucial ‘health check’ of these policies ensuring that appropriate action is being taken to manage cyber risks for employees working remotely and that measures are put in place to respond to malicious cyber activity.

2. Cyber security threats are growing 

As the digital landscape continues to evolve and people and systems continue to be interconnected, the volume and value of the private information shared by customers is increasing. In turn, efforts to steal and exploit the information are on the rise leaving businesses under persistent threat of malicious cyber activity. 

Cybercrime is estimated to cost Australians alone over $1 billion each year with costs expected to rise. If a business is connected to the internet, it is vulnerable to malicious cyber activities. This places added significance on the importance of safeguarding customers’ personal information and as such should be high on the list of priorities.

A cyber security audit will ascertain where there are holes in an organisations defence and underline key areas of the business that requires attention, seeing to it that they meet the various privacy and legislation requirements whilst simultaneously providing three lines of defense: security, vigilance and resilience.

3. Cyber Strategy Professionals

A cyber security audit will indicate to an organisation where they are vulnerable, highlight their cyber capability and equip them with the information needed to put a plan into action. Offering actionable insights, a cyber audit allows further insight into the key areas that should be invested into, such as sourcing and building internal cyber talent.

This is an integral part of workforce planning that verifies whether or not companies have the appropriate internal cyber skills in place to meet the ongoing requirements of the business unit and it’s cyber security strategy.

4. Cyber Resilience as a management tool

Cyber security audits encourage organisations to see cyber resilience as critical management tool for understanding risks and making those key investment decisions. By conducting a cyber security audit, risks are highlighted providing businesses and executives with the ability to anticipate various scenarios and build protection against these risks, thus playing an integral role in assessing and identifying opportunities to strengthen their security or processes.

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