How effective are your cybersecurity plans? In a study, 73% of CIOs and CISOs are highly confident of theirs.

However, confidence can be more damaging to the company. New threats arise every year, and not enough companies pay attention to their security. The same study says that 83% of companies experienced at least one security breach in the past 36 months.

Are you prepared for an attack anytime? You will know when you conduct a cybersecurity audit. Keep on reading for more information about audits:

Assess Your Assets

The first task is to define the scope of the audit by identifying all your assets. These can include:

  • Tech equipment
  • Customer data
  • Company data
  • Internal documentation

You might not be able to audit all your assets. Prioritize them and determine which ones will undergo auditing.

Identify the possible threats to each of those assets. Risks are anything from errors to outside factors that can compromise your security and cost your company a lot of money.

Review Your Current Security

How are your current security plans doing? Are they updated? Is everyone following them?

Be objective when reviewing your company’s current ability to defend against threats and risks. Assess the past performance and determine your areas of improvement.

The culture of security must extend beyond the IT department. If your last training convention was years ago, it’s time to hold one or two.

Reassess Your Risks

More risks likely popped up since you developed your latest cybersecurity plans. Cybercriminals might have new methods, or your company might have added some new assets.

Employees leaving or joining might open some vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity issues to your suppliers and ITaaS solutions affect you, too.

You want to assign risk scores and rank the threats. Consider the following factors:

  • Likelihood of an event
  • Ability to handle the event
  • The potential damage from the event

You also have to consider the latest cybersecurity trends. Find out new types of breaches in the IT industry.

Consider the Current Compliance Standards

Review the current requirements of the compliance standards applying to your business. As you assess each plan, check whether it still meets all the classification and security standards.

Look at your company’s policies and any necessary updates. Consider the industry’s best practices and other relevant regulations.

Build Your Plan

For the last step of your cybersecurity audit, build plans for the discovered threats and risks. Determine a corresponding action for each and find ways to eliminate or mitigate them before they do any damage.

Make sure your plans are actionable by asking for help from the relevant departments. They are the ones who will implement your system, after all.

Get Help in Performing a Cybersecurity Audit

When you break down a cybersecurity audit using the methods above, it looks simple enough. Even a small business owner can perform it.

However, it’s better to consult with cybersecurity professionals when you can. They are always up-to-date with the current trends and regulations.

Do you need more helpful guides? If so, read our other posts today.