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As a distributor or manufacturer in Los Angeles, odds are you haven’t been subjected to a formal security audit. While for many industries audits are required, for manufacturers and distributors security is often times viewed merely as an option. But with so many breaches going on these days, as well as ransomware attacks, there are so many more reasons to secure your technology than ever before.
While a systematic evaluation of your information technology by an external third party is often driven by some sort of regulatory compliance, a security audit is the starting point to check how secure your data handling processes are, evaluate user practices, and provide analysis of your company’s information environment. It’s a process that must be undertaken in order to ensure you’re doing everything that you can to protect the interests of your business and its customer data. These days it’s something that you can’t hid from, but rather a necessary evil.
To start with, do you know what a security audit should contain? Have you taken the time to research what will happen during your next audit?
Here are three of the most important things you need to be looking out for:
1. Security vulnerability scans
A security vulnerability scan is perhaps one of the most important aspects of an audit, analyzing your entire network for signs of weakness and error. While it’s rather easy to point out where you’re going right with your information security, it can be another thing entirely to identify holes – particularly if you’re unaware that weaknesses exist. This aspect of the audit will ensure vulnerabilities are identified, and addressed.
And vulnerabilities aren’t viewed just from the outside getting in, but rather once inside your perimeter what other aspects of your network are susceptible to intruders.
2. Analysis of physical access to systems
If your business is the victim of theft or vandalism but there are no signs of forced entry, it’s only natural to conduct an investigation of those who have access to the building. During the auditing process an analysis of physical access will do much the same job; it works out which members of staff have been granted access to particular systems and programs and ensures that nobody without the correct authorization is making use of the technology.
3. System-generated audit reports
A system-generated audit report is an automated chronological record of every piece of data that has ever been entered; it is documentation of the procedures that have been carried out, the activities that have been undertaken, conversations that have been had, and the numbers that your company has processed in any given timeframe. So, why is this audit report, or trail, so important during the auditing process? In short, data such as this can rarely be manipulated, and it certainly is not going to lie on purpose. An automatic report will document each moment as it happened, and provide an account of the activity that has taken place within your company’s system.
Yes, security audits can be yet another task to complete on top of a burgeoning workload, but they are the best way to ensure you’re doing everything you can to keep your information, and that of your customers safe. More importantly, they also highlight areas in which improvements need to be made.
While it’s easy for manufacturers and distributors to gloss over the importance of securing their information, a network security audit needs to be considered a at least a necessary evil.
When was the last time you performed a security audit on your IT infrastructure?Share your experiences with us in the section for Comments below.
If you own or manage a whole distribution or manufacturing company in Los Angeles, and you’re looking to stay up to date on the latest technology, be sure to download your free guide, How COOs at Los Angeles Distributors and Manufacturers Get More Done: A Guide to Productivity, Data, Staffing, Delegation, and Making It Home for Dinner Most Nights.
