Undertaking a cyclical audit is better than no audit at all; however, risks remain in that problems identified during audits could have existed for a significant length of time. If for example user accounts are not deactivated promptly once a member of staff has left the company, someone else could use them. Monitoring and auditing continuously allow quick identification and correction of problems.
Continuous auditing and monitoring have benefits across a multitude of business and technology functions. A combination of the following will allow the use of data efficiently and effectively to improve the business and the audit function.
- With known controls which need to be audited, investigate the data sources required for monitoring and auditing, and how the data can be gathered and processed continuously to provide the necessary level of assurance
- Investigate and analyse available data sources, gain insights from the data, and feed the options back to auditors
Here are some example data sources associated with Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Software Asset Management (SAM) along with examples of insights to gain through data analysis.
Identity and Access Management
With access to the following data sources:
- Master list of user accounts (authoritative data source)
- Individual application user accounts
- Application-level permissions (entitlements)
- Current staff list
- Application access log files
- Business roles
Examination and data analysis will allow you to:
- Identify active user accounts belonging to staff members no longer with the company
- Identify where application permissions exceed those required for the user to perform their role within the company
- Identify unusual or suspicious application and data access
- Identify toxic access combinations
- Use the data to identify where access management processes have failed
Software Asset Management
With access to the following data sources:
- Software licences purchased
- Authorised devices on the network
- User accounts
- Software applications on individual devices
- Application files on individual devices
Examination and data analysis will allow you to:
- Identify immediately when the number of software installations exceeds the number of purchased software licences
- Identify when someone installs unauthorised software on devices
- Identify where dormant software installations
Information security, risk management, internal audit, and governance professional with over 25 years of post-graduate experience gained across a diverse range of private and public sector projects in banking, insurance, telecommunications, health services, charities and more, both in the UK and internationally – MORE