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Cyber Security Services: Risk Audit

Internal audit and compliance teams have a critical role assisting their business with the ongoing battle of managing cyber threats and building programs with superior information security in Australia. This is undertaken by providing an independent assessment of existing and required controls by a cyber security consultant, or otherwise assisting Audit Committee and board with understanding and addressing the diverse risks the company faces in light of the rapidly-changing digital world.

What are information security and cyber security risks and why do you need to audit?

There’s no doubt that the need for cyber security in Australia is on the rise – cyber criminals are smart, well-funded, and passionate about breaching your data. Even standard security technologies are not enough to protect you from their rapidly evolving malware.

In terms of cyber security, company boards have set an expectation for both the IT team and the compliance/internal audit teams to understand and assess the organisation’s capabilities in managing the associated risks.

For every business, cyber risks will vary in type and complexity, whether you’re a small business or large multi-national, our information security consultants work hard to solve complex issues across cyber security in Sydney, Melbourne and most major cities in Australia.

In the current climate of heightened cyber security in Australia, the number of organisations being publicised in the media of having breaches in their controls relating to their information security in Sydney or Melbourne has been unprecedented.

You need outside-in expertise from our team of cyber security consultants to perform a cyber risk assessment that will identify gaps in your existing policies and procedures, and provide detailed observations and remediation plans to help achieve your most ideal state of security.

EXPLORING YOUR CYBER RISK

Understanding your cyber risk begins with three questions:

1. What assets/data is the organisation trying to protect?
2. What kind of control systems does the organisation have in place to ensure that information is protected from unauthorised access?
3. What proactive mitigation strategies are in place to avoid a potential breach in these controls?

Cyber Program Management (CPM) Framework

We utilise our CPM Framework that work towards ISO 27001 compliance and meeting regulatory requirements, such as CPS 243 and others, to assist you in assessing your cyber risks.

Architecture

Developing technology protections within networks, hosts, data and software.

Operations

Identifying access management protocol, threat management and day-to-day operational vulnerabilities.

Awareness

Security monitoring, business continuity planning and incident response management.

Do You Know Your Lines of Defence?

Recent data relating to cyber attacks on information security in Australia has shown that the preferred targets for attacks on cyber security in Sydney and Melbourne are education, healthcare and financial institutions. Along the firing lines are many organisations that relate or service these fields.

Third party risk factors are one of the many reasons organisations should look to ensure there are sufficient layers of cyber defence in their company. It’s very likely that cyber risk management is compromised in the day to day decision making by the fact that business units and the information technology (IT) function misunderstand how to effectively implement a cyber risk management framework. Find out below why your third line of defence is the most important.

Concerning information security, a company’s first line of defence is the integrity of your security architecture. Often this is never enough to fully secure a business.

The second line of defence includes information and technology risk management leaders who establish governance and oversight, monitor security operations, and take action as required.

A third line of defence would be a regular, independent review of the security measures your business has in place. A credible external provider should play an integral role in assessing and identifying opportunities to strengthen your company security architecture. At the same time, your internal governance team has a duty to inform the board of directors that the controls for which they are responsible are in place, functioning correctly and complying with the law.

Cyber Maturity

Steps to Find your cyber maturity with a Cybersecurity Risk Assessment

1. Involve people with the necessary experience and skills.
It is critical to engage a provider with the depth of knowledge and technical skills to deliver relevant insight.

2. Evaluate all the cybersecurity risks that are relevant to your business.

This will involves understanding the current state of your business against a cyber maturity road-map and understanding the minimum expected cybersecurity practices across your industry.

3. The cyber risk assessment should give rise to more in-depth reviews.

The initial analysis will highlight what areas of your business require further investigation. Your cyber maturity will depend on where the business intends to go and how you will continuously monitor the cyber risks as they develop with your company growth.

Cyber Risk Assessments and Audit FAQs

What is the cyber risk assessment process?

An effective cyber risk audit will assess the following areas. Firstly, it will identify the real risks and define the organisations overall risk appetite. Secondly, a security strategy will be devised that’s focused on protecting your business drivers and high-value data through tailored information security and cyber security services. Third, the aim will be to sustain your enterprise program and get the governance right – make security a broad-level priority to allow good security to be driven by compliance, not vice-versa. Fourth, it should optimise the business for performance and align all aspects of the security information process – it should look at privacy and business continuity plans and how your company adapts to changes in the industry. Finally, it should enable business performance, and make security everyone’s responsibility by setting goals and metrics that will influence future business decision making. Feel free to contact us to arrange a presentation on cyber risk at your place of business, or at our headquarters.

Who is responsible for carrying out risk assessments?

Ideally, a provider who is external to the business, who has the technical experience to audit cyber risks should be engaged to conduct the risk assessments. Whilst internal audit, compliance and IT teams could list and assess their risks, a third party provider like Gridware would provide unbiased and intelligence assessments. Third party technical auditors will also provide key recommendations based on your company’s maturity in the industry and in comparison to your competitors with whom we also have key relationships with.

How often a cyber risk assessment should be conducted?

A cyber risk assessment should be conducted every two years, but this may also depend on the growth rate of your company or if your company decides to offer a new product or service.

Who requires a cyber risk audit and why it is necessary?

Most listed companies, in addition any medium-large private companies, should consider regular cyber risk audits to ensure they maintain oversight into their risks they are vulnerable to and otherwise meet regulatory obligations, allowing the Board to action improvements appropriately. We provide cyber risk audits to many ASX listed companies based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Even start-ups that have impending growth should consider a cyber risk assessment of their products or services. The benefits of having key oversights early in the process will allow for better decision making in the future.

Customer Stories

Gridware has acted for hundreds of companies and helped them recover from potentially disastrous situations. Read about how our services have helped others:

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