Why is it Important to Prepare for Compliance and IT Audits?
There is a golden rule that is taught in all disaster management courses that instruct students on how to deal with earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and such natural disasters: preparedness. This fundamental rule is just as applicable to information security risks and hazards as it is to natural disasters. Since the cybersphere works at an impossible pace, new cybersecurity risks arise every day. This makes it necessary to conduct regular compliance and IT audits to identify any gaps in the security framework of any organization.
While audits are a good check for your organization’s security posture, being prepared for them is important too. Here are some reasons why it is important to prepare for compliance and IT audits.
They save you money
Non-compliance and a poor information security policy can cost your organization a lot of money and resources. Costs will be incurred not only due to heavily impacted business operations and potential customer loss but also due to penalties levied by regulatory bodies your organization is found to be non-compliant. If you systematically prepare for IT and compliance audits, you can save a lot of money and other resources.
Rapid improvements to the security framework
Successful IT and compliance audits require that your security framework be flawless. Preparing well in advance for these audits would help you improve your security framework. It will allow you to incorporate necessary amendments to your information security and compliance policies that strengthen your security posture and adherence to specific frameworks.
Early mitigation and remediation of security and compliance risks
If you prepare thoroughly for your compliance and IT audits, you can easily identify new cyber risks threatening your organization. Thus, you can locate potential security and compliance risks early on and initiate early mitigation or remediation of these risks. This helps you protect your data while also preparing your organization for the next and compliance audit.
It helps you foster awareness amongst employees
One of the steps involved in preparing for compliance and IT audits is communicating your security and compliance policies to your employees. This also requires training sessions for your employees so that they are well aware of what it means to be compliant and secure. This preparation has an added advantage as it will allow you to identify personnel members that need to improve their compliance levels and those that indulge in unsafe data processing and sharing processes at work. You can do this through manual or automated questionnaires.
They help you maintain your reputation
Many organizations are regulated by federal and state laws or industry standards. Such regulatory bodies conduct regular audits of the organizations under their purview. Being ready for these IT and compliance audits helps you perform well and elevates the status of your organization among others in the industry. Moreover, it helps maintain your reputation among your customers.
Conclusion
To counter the constantly evolving cyber risks in the digital world, thorough compliance and IT audits are necessary. Understand the above-mentioned reasons why it is important to prepare for compliance and IT audits so you can perform them efficiently.