Urgent Pay Payment Systems, a payment processing company, experienced a data breach that compromised over 80 million credit and debit card numbers. The breach was attributed to the company's failure to implement effectiv

Information systems auditing or systems audit is an ongoing process of evaluating controls, collecting and evaluating evidence to determine whether a computer system safeguards assets, maintains data integrity, allows organizational goals to be achieved effectively, and uses resources efficiently. Thus, information systems auditing supports traditional audit objectives; attest objectives (those of the external auditor) that focus on asset safeguarding and data integrity, and management objectives (those of the internal auditor) that encompass not only attest objectives but also effectiveness and efficiency objectives. General objectives of Information System Audit: Validation of the organizational aspects and administration of the information service function. Validation of the controls of the system development life cycle. Validation of access controls to installations, terminals, libraries, etc. Automation of internal auditing activities. Internal training. Training members of the information service function department. An information systems audit performed in an organization is a comprehensive examination of a given targeted system. The audit consists of an evaluation of the components which comprise that system, with examination and testing in the following areas: High-level systems architecture review Business process mapping (e.g., determining information systems dependency with respect to user business processes) End user identity management (e.g., authentication mechanisms, password standards, roles limiting or granting systems functionality) Operating systems configurations (e.g., services hardening) Application security controls Database access controls (e.g., database configuration, account access to the database, roles defined in the data base) Anti-virus/Anti-malware controls Network controls (e.g. running configurations on switches and routers, use of Access control lists, and firewall rules) Logging and auditing systems and processes IT privileged access control (e.g. System Administrator or root access) IT processes in support of the system (e.g. user account reviews, change management) Backup/Restore procedures During the System audit, the auditors are required to understand and evaluate the overall control environment. The control environment reflects the overall attitude of, awareness of, and actions by the board of directors, management, and others concerning the importance of internal controls in the enterprise.