Also known as an information systems audit, a system audit is the thorough and careful evaluation and review of the information systems present in an organization. The main aim of the audit is to check for vulnerabilities and loopholes in the system and how the productivity, efficiency, and efficacy of the system can be improved.
System audits are carried out by IT professionals who are well-versed with different information systems of a firm and how they can be used to prevent the abuse of organizational resources. IT systems play a direct role in the value of an organization’s business; therefore, improving them is a must. It involves evaluating the hardware, software, data, and the users. Here are the vital steps of performing a system audit.
1. Review
In this phase, the system auditor tries to comprehend the management practices and various functions used at multiple levels of the IT hierarchy. This step determines whether or not the auditor will proceed with the rest of the rest.
Tasks such as observing installation procedures, interviewing installation staff, and going through installation documentation take place. Additional reviewing is carried out for the management and application controls; crucial weaknesses are identified in the management controls. Auditors also try to determine if the measures implemented in the installation controls are sufficient to bring down losses to an acceptable level.
2. System Vulnerability is Assessed
In the next step of the audit, different applications are individually assessed to find out the most vulnerable ones. Computer systems and applications that are the most vulnerable are also the ones used for abuse. Hence, the type of application and the control of quality protocols are reviewed.
3. Threats are Identified
Information systems are threatened by external and internal users such as programmers, system analysts, regular users, cyber security specialists, data entry operators, software services, data vendors, etc. All such people are identified by system auditors.
In the same way, events, points, and occasions are found out when the IT infrastructure was breached earlier. It can be when a transaction was carried out that might have been deleted, added or altered. There’s also the possibility of risky behavior when data or programs are edited or when their operation is at fault.
4. Internal Controls are Analyzed
In this step, system auditors determine the efficacy of the information system’s internal controls and whether or not they are working the way they should. They also check any missing internal controls within the system.
5. Final Evaluation
In the last step of the system audit, different tests are carried out for the various components of the internal control systems of the organization. The main purpose of this phase is to calculate the probability of any future losses in assets. These tests include identifying erroneous processing, assessing the data quality, finding out inaccurate data, comparing physical counts of data, and confirming data with external sources.
