Out of Sync — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

Auditing means inspection: checking that what the company said it would do is really being done, because things drift out of sync. In the Auditing lesson, an error at provisioning usually fixes itself: the user cannot get into something, complains, and it is corrected. Errors that leave someone with too much access do not, because nothing stops them working. A change of job that adds the new access without removing the old, or a leaver whose account is never shut off, stays until an audit compares the accounts with HR's list and each role. How often the audit runs decides how long that lasts, and an audit finds errors only in the systems it covers. Who audits matters too. A self-assessment is cheap and catches a lot, but people checking their own work miss their own blind spots. A committee, another department or a security team kept apart from IT is more objective. A third-party auditor brings the industry's standard and the independence customers often require. Most companies do both.

What you'll learn

Predict which account errors correct themselves because the user cannot work, and which stay until an audit compares the accounts with HR's records and each role
Predict what a self-assessment, an internal review by people outside the work, and a third-party audit each catch or provide

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

5.5 Explain types and purposes of audits and assessments.

4.6 Given a scenario, implement and maintain identity and access management.

NIST 800-53

CA-2 Control Assessments

Key terms

IT Audit: A systematic inspection of IT processes, controls, and systems to identify misalignments and verify that established procedures are being followed correctly.
Self-Assessment: An internal audit in which an organization evaluates its own processes and controls; less costly than external audits but limited by potential bias and conflicts of interest.
Third-Party Audit: An independent examination of an organization's processes and controls conducted by an external auditor to provide an objective, industry-standard evaluation.
Provisioning: The process of creating and configuring user accounts and granting appropriate access rights when a user joins or changes roles in an organization.
De-provisioning: The process of revoking and removing a user's access rights and accounts when they leave an organization or no longer require access.

Topics

It Auditing Account Lifecycle Management Internal Audit Interactive Predict

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