Cyber Security Audit
A comprehensive and critical assessment of the cyber security framework within your company to identify weaknesses, guarantee compliance and fortify your security posture. We evaluate your existing security and IT infrastructure and provide practical steps to protect your company from cyber threats.
On this page
Secure your business.
Elevate your security, accelerate your growth. We take care of cyber security for high-growth companies, at every stage of their journey.
Get in Touch
What is Cyber Security Audit?
A company’s security practices, policies and systems are thoroughly examined as part of a cyber security audit to make sure they are reliable, secure and compliant with industry standards. An extensive assessment of your IT and business environments including network security, hardware, software and compliance with standards like GDPR, ISO 27001, or NIST, is part of the auditing process. Businesses can find weaknesses, evaluate the effectiveness of present security measures, establish the right measures to reduce risks and prevent data breaches by performing regular cyber security audits.
Challenges addressed by Cyber Security Audit
Unidentified Vulnerabilities
A lot of companies don’t realise how many vulnerabilities exist in their systems. As a result, confidential data can become exposed to threats. Without regular auditing, companies can over time build up this technical debt which accumulates vulnerabilities and inevitably leads to data breaches if left unmanaged.
Unknown Compliance Status
Maintaining compliance with constantly evolving regulations such as GDPR or ISO 27001 is often very challenging for SMBs. Small to medium sized businesses often lack the specialist compliance expertise in-house to perform these reviews or the capacity to perform them in the first instance.
Lack of Specialists
Assessing cyber security effectively involves more than just internal resources, it demands specialised knowledge and experience that often don’t exist in-house. Many companies often try a DIY approach to cyber security audits which inevitably result in control weaknesses being missed and underestimating the level of risk for the company.
Poor Audit Results Messaging
Audit results can be confronting for senior managers and the executive. When technical resources (often who perform the audits themselves) present the findings to senior management, it can often result in mismanagement of senior stakeholders and the setting of ‘hares running’ unnecessarily. Audit results must be accompanied with the relevant and proportionate messaging.
Abrasive Audit Method
Without the right approach or audit methodology, a lot of auditors leave their consulted stakeholders feeling exhausted and ‘interrogated’. This can create a divide between IT or central functions and compliance functions.
What Our Clients Say
Benefits of Cyber Security Audit
A comprehensive assessment of your company’s security posture is provided by a cyber security audit. It assists with identifying vulnerabilities, ensures compliance with industry rules and increases defences against cyber threats. Frequent audits show a proactive approach to protecting critical assets, which not only increases operational resilience but also enhances stakeholder confidence.
Identify Control Weaknesses
Auditing identifies potential security risks and provides comprehensive recommendations on how to mitigate it. This lowers the possibility of breaches by enabling preventative measures. By implementing these preventative measures, you can enhance your overall defence against possible cyber attacks.
Compliance Assurance
An audit will ensure that the organisation satisfies all relevant regulatory and compliance requirements, protecting you from penalties and fines. By performing regular cyber security audits, you protect your critical assets and improve your company reputation.
Security Posture Improvement
Auditing not only provides point-in-time recommendations on how to address weaknesses identified, it provides mechanism for continued and sustained cyber security control improvement over the medium to long term. By strengthening your organisation’s overall cyber security posture, the audit makes sure it is better prepared to defend against cyber threats.
Stakeholder Confidence
Internal stakeholders such as senior management and executive, ultimately feel more confident that their data, IT assets and people are properly safeguarded by the right controls and processes. External stakeholders such as investors, suppliers and prospective clients are also reassured you have sufficient controls in place in order to do business with them.
Clear Way Forward
A comprehensive audit gives your business a thorough remediation roadmap with specific recommendations for addressing vulnerabilities found. Your team will be able to quickly and consistently enhance your security posture by using this structured approach to prioritise and resolve the issues identified.
Secure your business.
Elevate your security, accelerate your growth. We take care of cyber security for high-growth companies, at every stage of their journey.
Get in Touch
Case Study: UK Financial Services Firm
Client Challenge
A UK-based financial services firm, subject to Financial Conduct Authority regulatory requirements, observed a significant uptick from their security monitoring tool in the number of cyber attacks that were attempting to compromise their defences. With a limited in-house cyber security team, the company needed a comprehensive cyber security audit to check the effectiveness of current cyber security controls and ensure ongoing compliance.
Our Approach
CyPro delivered a tailored cyber security audit service, which included a specialised team with expertise in financial services regulation, including:
- Virtual CISO: Providing strategic guidance to oversee the audit process, focusing on FCA/PRA regulatory alignment.
- Cyber Risk Manager: Identifying and addressing the key cyber risks in the companies network, by evaluating exposure points and their potential impact on business operations.
- Technical Auditor: Conducting hands-on vulnerability assessments across the firm’s systems, which identified outdated technology, a high degree of technical debt and controls which were not operating effectively.
Our approach included:
- Regulatory Gap Analysis: Conducted a thorough analysis of the firm’s cyber security framework against FCA guidelines, identifying opportunities for improvement.
- Policy and Procedure Development: Developed standardised cyber security policies which aligned with regulatory requirements and best practices.
- Vulnerability and Penetration Testing: Performed testing to identify weaknesses in the network, applications, and endpoints. This focused on high risk areas that might expose sensitive financial data.
- Risk-Based Remediation Plan: Created a prioritised remediation plan, detailing steps to patch vulnerabilities, and enhance monitoring capabilities.
- Establish Audit Schedule: Defined and implemented an audit schedule to ensure cyber security audits are embedded within business operations on an ongoing basis.
Value Delivered
Regulatory Compliance
Ensured the clients cyber security framework met industry standards, minimising regulatory risk.
Enhanced Trust
Improved data protection measures which boosted client and stakeholder confidence.
Significant Risk Reduction
Identified and resolved critical vulnerabilities, reducing the risk of breaches and ensuring the security of sensitive financial information.
Who Needs Cyber Security Audit?
As cyber threats evolving, companies of all sizes must be vigilant. Identifying vulnerabilities and improving security measures require a cyber security audit. These audits are beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses, heavily regulated industries, and rapidly growing corporations.
- Small to Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs):
Small and medium-sized businesses frequently lack the funding necessary to provide a high degree of assurance around established cyber security controls. A cyber security audit gives them the knowledge they need to improve security without the cost of an internal audit team. - Heavily Regulated Industries:
Industries such as finance, healthcare, and telecommunications must adhere to strict laws of which, auditing is a crucial component. A cyber security audit protects sensitive data, assures compliance, reduces the possibility of penalties, and improves the organisation’s reputation among internal and external stakeholders. - Businesses with Complex IT Infrastructures:
Cyber security audits are advantageous for large or complex IT organisations because they ensure all components of their infrastructure are secure and comply to industry standards, especially when introducing new technologies or IT systems. - Rapidly Expanding Companies:
As companies grow, they often don’t fully integrate new technologies and systems well which can create cyber security control weaknesses. By ensuring that changes in IT and infrastructure do not create new vulnerabilities, a cyber security audit assists these organisations in managing associated risks, enabling confident and sustainable expansion. - Mergers & Acquisitions:
Companies who are acquiring others will want to ensure before the transaction formally takes place that the target company’s control environment is robust and externally assured.
Who doesn’t need Cyber Security Audit?
- Organisations with Few Cyber Controls:
Companies who are just starting off on their cyber security journey may not need cyber security audits just yet. If there are no controls to audit, there is little point! - Companies with Low-Risk Profiles:
Full-scale cyber security audits might not be necessary for organisations who do not operate much IT infrastructure, handle sensitive or personal data or have few digital assets.
Our Cyber Security Audit Approach
At CyPro, our cyber security audit approach aims to give a complete assessment of your organisation’s security posture. We focus on a systematic and tailored methodology that meets your unique business requirements.
Scoping
We begin with a thorough consultation to understand your business’s objectives, the intended scope of the audit, existing security capabilities and any specific cyber security requirements. We start by getting an understanding of your priorities so that we can develop a tailored audit to meet your unique security challenges.
Detailed Assessment Plan
After scoping, we prepare a detailed audit plan that includes the timeline, focus areas (such as network security, data protection and regulatory compliance), and the key personnel involved in the audit process. This strategy outlines expectations for all parties involved and provides clarity on what to anticipate. By identifying specific areas of concentration, we ensure that our efforts are focused on the most crucial aspects of your security posture, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the audit.
Control Testing
We perform comprehensive penetration testing, vulnerability scans and sample audit reviews of your security policies and controls. Our methodology enables us to identify possible vulnerabilities in your processes and systems without impacting business operations.
Risk Analysis
After identification of vulnerabilities, an in-depth risk assessment is carried out by our team of experts. We evaluate the vulnerabilities found and classify them according to their potential impact on your organisation and level of severity. This analysis gives an understanding of the risks connected to each vulnerability, enabling you to prioritise remedial steps and actions.
Technical & Executive Reporting
We offer both a comprehensive technical report for technology focused functions and roles (i.e. CTOs, Software Engineers, IT Architects, etc.) and a summarised Executive Report tailored more towards the layman and non-technical audience. We make sure that our reporting is clear, concise, and tailored to the audience, offering sector insights for your management.
Remediation Plan
We collaborate with your team to create a cyber remediation plan based on the audit results. Keeping in mind the unique circumstances and available resources of your company, this plan gives priority to the tasks that will have the most significant effect on improving your security posture and reducing risk as fast as possible.
Validation Audit
After the recommended changes are implemented, we recommend performing a ‘validation audit’ to assess the effectiveness of the remedial efforts. This stage is essential to make sure that all risks have been effectively addressed and that the implemented solutions are performing as planned.
Secure your business.
Elevate your security, accelerate your growth. We take care of cyber security for high-growth companies, at every stage of their journey.
Get in Touch
Jonny Pelter
Jonny is a Founding Partner at CyPro and executive group level CISO who has worked closely with the British intelligence agencies NCSC and GCHQ.
Originating from KPMG and Deloitte, Jonny has a wealth of experience across numerous sectors including technology, critical national infrastructure, financial services, oil & gas, insurance, betting, pharmaceuticals and utilities.
Jonny is a leading cyber security expert in the UK, having featured on national media for his professional commentary such as BBC News, iPlayer, Telegraph and Times Radio.
Additional Consultants
Hassan strengthens our Cyber Security Audit Team with his extensive background as a Cyber Security Architect. With 18 years of experience across multi-technology data centre platforms and mobile core networks, he brings a wealth of knowledge in designing secure and resilient systems. As a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Chartered Engineer (CEng), Hassan’s expertise in network and data security architectures ensures that our audits are thorough and effective. His proven ability to lead complex security initiatives equips our team to identify vulnerabilities and enhance organisational resilience against cyber threats.
Jason is an accomplished Information Security Consultant known for his expertise in internal controls, risk management, and compliance. With years of experience in auditing and policy implementation, he has a proven track record of helping organisations enhance their cyber security posture and achieve regulatory compliance. Jason specialises in tailoring security strategies to align with each client’s unique business needs, ensuring a comprehensive approach to information security.
His analytical mindset and innovative solutions make him a trusted advisor to clients, guiding them in navigating the complex landscape of information security risks.
Kailey enhances our Cyber Security Audit Team with her expertise in cyber resilience and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). As a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and DORA specialist, she supports organisations in maintaining operational continuity against cyber threats. Kailey’s experience in building Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) and managing third-party risks ensures our audits are thorough and effective. Her strategic approach guarantees that our recommendations not only meet regulatory standards but also bolster the organisation’s capacity to recover from cyber incidents.
And is a skilled Identity & Access Management Architect at CyPro, bringing over 18 years of experience in identity management and security. With a robust background that includes roles as a Senior IAM Consultant at Microsoft and various consultancy positions, he is adept at designing and implementing effective identity solutions. And’s expertise in IAM not only enhances our audit processes but also ensures that organisations have secure and efficient access controls in place. His strategic insights contribute significantly to our Cyber Security Audit Team’s efforts in improving security postures for our clients.
Comparison: Risk Assessment vs Cyber Security Audit
When deciding between a risk assessment and cyber security audit, it is important to understand the advantages each option offers. Below is a detailed comparison to help you find the best service for your organisation’s security posture.
Risk Assessment
- Purpose: Provides an analysis aimed at identifying and prioritising potential security risks, offering insights into likely vulnerabilities and threats. Provides an informal, consultancy based view on risk.
- Scope: typically focuses on a specific service, product, application or the organisation as a whole.
- Cost: Cost-effective measure to understand risks within an organisation. As formal assurance is not required, this option tends to be more cost effective than formal cyber security audits (of a similar scope).
- Who is this best for? Organisations seeking to understand their basic security controls to protect against cyber threats or those sitting in unregulated sectors and markets.
Cyber Security Audit
- Purpose: A comprehensive review of an organisations overall cyber security profile to assess resilience, identify weaknesses, and align with best practices. Provides a formal, assurance based view on cyber risk.
- Scope: A thorough internal assessment across specific control domains areas such as network security, data security, access control or risk management.
- Cost: Due to the level of formal assurance involved, this is a more resource intensive process, usually costing more than a risk assessment of a similar scope.
- Who is this best for? Organisations who require robust assurance around existing cyber security controls based on specialised compliance requirements, or who sit in regulated sectors or markets.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How to audit cyber security?
Reviewing an organisation’s security measures to ensure that they comply to policies and standards is part of the auditing cyber security process. Key steps include:
- Define Scope and Objectives: Identify the systems, protocols, and regulations that will be audited.
- Collect Data: Collect data on incident reports, compliance documentation, and existing security practices.
- Review Controls: Verify that security controls including encryption, access control, and firewalls to ensure they meet best practices.
- Risk Assessment: Identify vulnerabilities and assess how security risks affect the organisation
- Documentation: Document the findings, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages as well as recommendations for improvement.
- Report Results: Give stakeholders a presentation of the audit results, emphasising areas in need of improvement and offering actionable recommendations.
- What is audit in cyber security?
An audit in cyber security is a methodical evaluation of an organisation’s information security policies, procedures and controls. It aims to analyse the effectiveness of security measures in safeguarding sensitive data and complying with regulations. Audits can be internal or external, and they can focus on various aspects of cybersecurity issues such as risk management, incident response, or regulatory compliance.
- What is cyber security audit checklist?
A cyber security audit checklist is an important tool for determining an organisation’s overall security posture. It includes a thorough evaluation of hardware, software, policies, and data protection measures. This checklist provides a systematic approach to analysing security controls and practices, assisting in the identification of potential risks and compliance gaps. Organisations that adopt this structured framework may effectively mitigate risks and improve their cyber security resilience.
- How do I prepare for a cyber security audit?
To achieve a smooth and thorough cyber security audit, several key steps must be taken:
- Respond Promptly to Document Requests: the Auditors will likely publish a list of the necessary papers, such as access logs, policies, procedures, etc. that will need to be reviewed. Sometimes this documentation isn’t always available in the form requested, respond back clarifying any ambiguity.
- Reserve Time for Workshops: To ensure the stakeholders’ availability and active engagement, schedule times in your diaries for the auditor’s workshops and interviews.
- Collate Required Documents: Gather and organise any essential documentation ahead of time so that it can be easily reviewed by the auditor.
- Facilitate Sample Testing: Make sure your systems and controls are ready for the auditor to perform sample testing. Ensure that the required individuals and data are prepared for this process.
- Understand Audit Result Communication: Make it clear how the audit results will be shared. Will they be shared with the audit and risk committee, senior leadership, or in a formal report? Understanding the audience and format is essential for effective communication.
- Engage your Team: Engaging your team in the preparation stage can help to create a transparent environment, making the audit process more efficient and effective.
- Agree Management Actions: management actions should be recommended by the auditor for the control weaknesses identified. Ensure you are happy with these recommendations and that they are relevant to your specific organisation.
Top 10 Free Cyber Security Tools for SMBs in 2024Introduction With the frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks continuing to rise, it’s essential for business owners, IT professionals, and…
How Much Does a Virtual CISO Cost in 2024?Many CxO’s, founders and established IT professionals struggle to get clarity on how much a vCISO service costs and the…
- Expert Guide to Technical Due Diligence for Startups
Unlock the secrets of technical due diligence for startups. This guide covers everything from assessing IT infrastructure to ensuring robust…
Secure. Scale. Succeed.
We handle your cyber security so you get your time back and focus on growth.
