The Unnecessary Torture of Security Audits
From financial services to healthcare, nearly every industry gets audited for security, and no one looks forward to it. Just the thought of getting audited can generate chaos, stress and headaches to those involved. But what if I told you, it doesn’t have to be that way? You can remain calm and relaxed when you find out you are getting audited because it will be quick, easy and painless. How, you ask? By being prepared. Following are five ways in which you can better prepare for a security audit, or any other type of audit.
- Stay up-to-date.
There are so many standards and regulations that need to be followed by companies today. More than likely you already know which ones apply to your industry and business, but it is important to freshen up on the information regularly, as it can change often. Being up-to-date on the latest versions of standards and regulations will allow you to ensure that your company is properly complying to all relevant regulations and standards.
- Have a timeline.
Having a timeline or agenda can really help you prepare in a stress-free way. This will guarantee that you are getting everything that you need to do done on time before your audit, as opposed to scrambling to get things done at the last minute.
- Assign responsibility.
Delegating tasks to your team will not only alleviate responsibility for you but will assist you in getting them done faster and in a timely manner. Not only that but spreading out tasks will keep everyone on your team in the loop. No one should go into an audit uninformed or blind sighted, no matter how small their role may be.
- Stay organized.
Staying organized is the key to success, especially when it comes to being audited. Staying up-to-date, having a timeline and assigning responsibility all reflect how organized you are. When you are organized, things will run a lot smoother—you will know where everything is at, as well as when, where and by who something was done, and what still needs to be done.
- Assess yourself.
Do your research on what you should be doing, and then assess yourself to determine if you are doing it. The easiest way to do this is via an assessment platform, such as SecureWatch. Using a platform that is fully equipped to assess risk and compliance will enable you to do all the above. Best of all, the process is automated, which saves 70-80% of time compared to a manual assessment, so you don’t have to worry about performing a lengthy assessment on yourself.
