Hacking attacks are growing more and more common and are getting more expensive with each new year. However, to prevent them, one must first understand why and how they happen. Most hacks are not genius cyber-heists as we see in the movies. In reality, more often than not, they are a result of a human error - an employee clicked on a malicious link - or a misconfiguration of the software, which is the culprit far more often than malware.
Attackers know that it is much easier to travel the path of least resistance, which often means tricking a person or finding an error, rather than creating a sophisticated supervirus. This is why audits matter, as they can find errors that may have gone overlooked, and help a business secure its systems before they get exploited by bad actors.
What a security audit really is
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The first thing to note is that conducting a security audit is not the same as doing a vulnerability scan or a penetration test. Vulnerability scans are automated and, for the most part, fairly shallow. They simply look for known flaws or missing patches, and end it at that.
Penetration tests, on the other hand, are adversarial and narrow, basically simulating an attempt by an attacker to get in. Security audits are broader than either of those, examining systems, processes, configurations, access control, and even human behavior. Essentially, their purpose is to find the weaknesses in the system that no one knows about.
Audits can be internal or external, where internal audits are usually faster and cheaper, and can work out well if conducted regularly. External audits are slower and more expensive, but they add credibility and independence, as they are conducted by trusted third parties, and carry more weight with regulators and partners. However, for serious businesses, it is ideal to do both.
Also, note that one-time audits only give you a snapshot, while continuous ones come with a mindset that you are slipping out of shape. This is not the wrong way to think about it, however, as new hires, tools, deployments, and alike, all impact your business.
Ultimately, the key is to ensure security and not confuse it with compliance. Compliance proves that you have met the minimum requirements at the moment - enough to secure a license and conduct your business. Security, on the other hand, asks whether those controls actually work, and if they will protect you if something goes wrong.
The most common vulnerabilities found in audits and how to detect them
A lot of people think that breaches come from clever zero-days, but in reality, that is not the case. They are a result of a number of boring and mundane mistakes that kept piling on quietly until they created a problem, and someone exploited it.
Identity and access failures are the prime example of this, as shared accounts, old credentials, and 2FA that gets temporarily disabled and never get re-enabled can easily allow someone to breach an important account. Simply put, access is granted faster than the request for access is being reviewed, and that is enough for a capable bad actor to find their way in.
Cloud storage exposure is another regular problem, as it is easy for misconfigured access policies and inadequate default settings to slip under the radar when teams have to move fast. They assume that cloud providers will handle security, and by the end, no one does anything, allowing bad actors to slip past the defenses.
This is also the reason why shadow IT is on the rise, as employees tend to spin up tools and services without approval, as they don’t have the time to wait for official processes to allow for their usage.
Another common problem revolves around missing patches, and this is rarely an issue that comes from not being aware of what must be done - it is mostly just inconvenient to install them when they pop up. Sometimes, it is about the fear of breaking production or the lack of clear ownership, so there is some diversity involving this problem.
Then, there are over-permissioned users - a problem where it is easier to allow broad access than to design custom roles with only certain, specific privileges.
Lastly, there is also the problem if insecure backups, which often come to exist because backup systems are treated as an IT issue, not a security asset. In other words, most of these problems come from the inconvenience, ignorance, and misunderstanding of why something must be done, or why it must be done a certain way. In their haste, both employees and those in charge allow for smaller issues to pile on, eventually creating vulnerabilities without even being aware of them.
The importance of audits comes from the fact that they can detect these problems. For example, asset inventory and mapping can reveal what actually exists, and if it matches with what is written in official reports. Configuration reviews can catch dangerous defaults and drift before your business slips too far off course. Log analysis is also an important one, as it shows who accessed what, when, how often, and the like.
Vulnerability scanners can point out known weaknesses, although they don’t explain the context for them. But, manual verification, while slower, can confirm permissions and check real access paths, ensuring that systems are only accessed by those who should be there. These and similar solutions may not be fast and glamorous, but they can protect your business, and no matter how much they cost, you will be paying less than what you can suffer in losses due to a security breach.
The core security audit checklist
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By now, you should understand the importance of a proper security audit, but another thing to note is that audits are more than a random pile of controls and checks. When done properly, it comes down to a data security audit checklist, which is a framework designed around the methods that potential attackers might actually employ in order to find their way in.
For example, we talked about identity and access controls - this checks user accounts, roles, multi-factor authentication (MFA), password policies, and the like. It matters because the fastest way for attackers to get in is to use stolen or misused credentials. But, with unique accounts, enforced MFA, and least-privilege access, you can prevent that from happening, as long as you remember to remove old users.
Network and perimeter security is another item on the checklist, as it considers firewalls, VPNs, exposed ports, and segmentation. As long as the setup is good and limits inbound access while isolating critical systems, your business will be safe from outsiders.
Cloud and infrastructure configuration matters as well, as it covers cloud permissions, storage access, security groups, and alike. This matters because misconfigurations are a greater threat than malware, and to stay safe, you need to ensure that storage is private-by-default, with tight roles and regular monitoring of configuration, rather than conducting a one-time check and ending it there.
The next thing on the cybersecurity audit checklist is data protection and encryption - something that audits verify both at rest and in transit. They also consider how keys are managed, as well as the data classification. This is important because data breaches can hurt both your business and your customers, especially if sensitive data is left readable. But, with strong encryption and controlled key access, you can protect sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, and audits will ensure that this is enforced.
Proper protection also means considering endpoint and device security. Things like laptops, mobile devices, and even servers need to be checked for patching. Endpoints are very easy targets if they are not managed correctly. This is why to enable automatic updates and monitor devices without leaving them unmanaged, especially if they are in contact with core systems.
Speaking of monitoring, it is also important when it comes to logging. Having a strong monitoring system in place means always validating what is logged, how long logs are retained, and who is in charge of reviewing alerts. This allows you to quickly respond to any unusual behavior within the system.
Backup and recovery are also tested, as ransomware is a constant threat to untested backups. The right way to do it is to keep them offline and immutable, and regularly conduct restoration tests.
Next, audits will also consider third-party and vendor risk, meaning that vendor access, contracts, and offboarding will all be considered. Vendors often get to maintain a trusted status too long by default, while a safer option would be to give them time-limited access and regularly conduct reviews, with documented exit procedures.
Audits will also look into employee awareness, as unaware employees are the most common way for attackers to invade a company. That means security training, phishing tests, and reporting channels will all be reviewed. In most cases, the systems are good and strong, and the human element ends up being the weakest link. Hackers know it, and they exploit it.
Lastly, audits will check your company’s incident readiness. That means runbooks, roles, and escalation paths will all be checked, as you and your employees must know what to do in case of an incident, meaning that proper protocols must be set into place and followed if something ever happens.
How are cybersecurity audits performed?
Cybersecurity audits are performed by carefully reviewing systems, configurations, access controls, and processes. The goal is to try to find any security gaps that an attacker could exploit. The checks are performed through a mix of manual verification and automated tools, following a series of checks that result in a complete picture of a business’ security.
Audit templates: How to turn a checklist into a process
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Creating a checklist is only a part of the process, as it only becomes truly useful when it is turned into a repeatable process - a security audit checklist template.
With a strong audit template, auditors can precisely define what was checked, how it is being verified, what evidence is required and alike. This also assigns clear ownership, meaning that every control has a named individual who is responsible for reviewing the system and fixing issues.
Frequency is also important, as more important parts of the system should be reviewed on a regular basis, such as every month. Meanwhile, broader infrastructure, policy audits, and alike, can be conducted quarterly.
The documentation should record everything that the audit finds, as well as suggested actions for fixing potential issues, and deadlines, not just pass or fail results. Finally, audit templates should have at least basic risk scoring, which can help with prioritizing and dedicating more effort to the most critical issues.
Recommended tools
Tools can never replace a real, proper audit; that much should be clear right away. However, they can help make audits faster and easier to conduct regularly.
There are different tool categories, such as vulnerability scanners, which can find any missing patches and exposed services. Then, there are cloud security posture management (CSPM) tools that can highlight any risky cloud configurations early. Endpoint protection tools can help confirm that devices are updated and monitored, or that they require attention if they aren’t.
Next, identity and access management tools can make it possible to check who can access different parts of the system, and remove privileges from those who don’t need them. SIEM and logging platforms can also be used to provide the ability to detect suspicious activities, and check if controls set into place are functional.
Backups are crucial for dealing with incidents, so backup and disaster recovery tools can be used to make sure that data can be restored, which comes in handy after ransomware incidents or even accidental deletion. Lastly, phishing simulators and training tools are preventive tools that can help you train your employees and prepare them for potential attacks.
What happens when something slips through
Sometimes, incidents happen despite all the preparations and audits, whether due to a sophisticated attack or an overlooked vulnerability that someone managed to unearth, even though audits and checks failed to notice it. So, what then?
Well, every prepared business should have an incident response plan, which should be tested, and precisely followed in case of a security breach. Doing so can limit the damage done to the business or platform, reduce potential downtime to a minimum, and prevent small failures from becoming something big that could potentially result in the end of the entire company.
In order to be effective, an incident response should follow clearly defined steps, including:
Preparation.
Detection.
Containment.
Eradication.
Recovery.
Post-incident review.
A lot of companies make some common mistakes after an incident takes place, which often include slow reactions, the lack of clear ownership, skipping review after managing to recover the systems and bring them back online, and alike. Furthermore, some also make a dangerous mistake of treating audits as a one-time exercise, rather than conducting them regularly.
Conclusion
Cyberattacks are a common threat to businesses, large and small. However, what’s important to remember is that most successful attacks succeed because basic controls fail, not because attackers are genius hackers targeting your business, specifically.
In truth, the majority of such attacks can be prevented with a proper security audit checklist, which can expose points of failure early, and let you strengthen them before an incident can happen. Remember also that your business is constantly evolving, and each change can bring new points of failure that may not be accounted for.
That is why regular audits are important, to ensure that the systems remain safe. Tools can help, but proper audits are the backbone of security, providing discipline and accountability that tools cannot deliver on their own.
