IT Audit & Control in the Digital Age: Governance, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity

Introduction 🏷️ Hope is not a strategy. Especially when your data center is underwater  🏷️ In today’s hyper-connected organizations, business continuity is no longer an IT problem alone; it is an audit priority. This emphasizes that Information Security, Business Continuity Planning (BCP), and Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) are inseparable pillars of organizational resilience. As auditors, we are not just checking controls; we are questioning survival.                A powerful analogy discussed before compares BCP to changing a vehicle’s spare tire. We don’t carry four spare engines, but we prepare for the most likely disruption. Similarly, organizations cannot plan for everything, but they must plan for critical business disruptions. Practical audit insight: An IT audit should verify: Are recovery procedures documented ? Are staff trained ? Are recovery tools available and tested ...

       Introduction 🔐 “ Security is not a product, but a process.” – Bruce Schneier  🔐 In today’s hyper-connected digital environment, organizations rely heavily on networked systems to deliver services, store sensitive data, and enable remote work. While technologies such as firewalls, VPNs, and intrusion detection systems are widely implemented, IT Audit & Control goes beyond simply checking whether these tools exist. The real challenge lies in evaluating how effectively they are designed, configured, monitored, and aligned with business objectives. This blog explores network security from an IT audit perspective, combining theoretical foundations with practical, real-world audit considerations often overlooked in traditional discussions. The Network Perimeter: First Line of Defense, Not the Only One From an audit standpoint, perimeter defense mechanisms such as border routers, firewalls, and DMZs form the foundation of network security....

Introduction 💭 “ Technology doesn’t fail organizations, weak governance does. ” 💭 In today’s digital economy, information technology is no longer a support function operating behind the scenes. It shapes strategy, enables innovation, and directly influences organizational survival. When IT is poorly governed, risks escalate, value erodes, and trust collapses. This is where IT Audit and Control play a decisive role, not merely as compliance tools, but as strategic enablers. Enterprise Governance: Where IT Audit Begins Enterprise Governance balances two critical dimensions: Conformance – accountability, assurance, regulatory compliance Performance – value creation, strategic alignment, and resource utilization IT Governance operates at the intersection of these dimensions, ensuring that IT both delivers value and manages risk effectively. Without effective governance structures, boards lack visibility into IT risks such as cybersecurity threats, syst...

Introduction ⏱️  If you don’t actively manage IT risk, you are silently accepting it  ⏱️ In modern organizations, information is one of the most valuable assets, often more valuable than physical infrastructure. Yet many organizations only realize this after a breach, an outage, or a regulatory penalty. Effective IT Risk Management forms the foundation of strong IT audit, governance, and information security assurance. This blog explores how IT risk management translates theory into practice, drawing on real-world incidents and audit-driven perspectives.   Information: The Asset We Often Forget to Protect This defines an asset as “ anything that has value to the organization ” (ISO/IEC 17999). Information fits this definition perfectly; it is created, stored, transmitted, processed, and sometimes destroyed throughout its lifecycle. Without adequate controls, information can be: Leaked or disclosed without authorization Modified without det...