Top 10 Reasons Why Being an IT Auditor is So Hard

Before you choose a career as an IT auditor, consider my top 10 reasons why being an IT auditor is so hard.

Periodic Access Review Problems

One of my current clients is trying really hard to do periodic access reviews.

They know that mistakes are made in granting access, that users get access and eventually don’t need it anymore, but don’t tell anyone, and that some users leave the company without their manager’s knowledge (I never have understood how that happens, but it does; it has happened in every Fortune 500 company in which I’ve worked).

Evaluating Risk in the Dark

When you evaluate the risk of a vulnerability, do you do it in the dark?

Or do you take into account other factors that might affect the risk?

What if one of the factors is an existing audit issue that has not been remediated?

CISA vs. CIA Certification

If you’re an IT auditor (or want to be one) and don’t have any audit certifications, which certification should you get, the CISA or the CIA? If you want to get both, which one do you get first?

Full disclosure: I have the CISA, but not the CIA. Back when the CIA was 4 exams, I studied for all the CIA exams except the financial exam, but ended up not taking any of the exams. I also have the CISSP.

How Virtualization Changes Audits

If you haven’t determined how server virtualization changes your audit plans, you better get moving. I’m not just talking about a virtualization audit (more on that later), but the audits that you typically do every year or on a multi-year cycle.

For example, if every year you do an audit on all networks, servers, applications, and databases that host your key financial reporting or PHI systems, you’re looking at policies and procedures, configuration management, security (including patching), user access, logging, and so on. But do you first consider whether those assets run on virtualized servers?

Audit Tips for the New Year

Here’s a couple tips for making your IT audits a bit easier in the new year.

First, for those systems that don’t record the creation or deletion date of user accounts (or folders, permissions, or whatever), get a list of all accounts from IT in January. Then when you do the audit later in the year, get a new list and compare it with the January list. The new and deleted accounts will jump out at you.

More on Hating Auditors

Previously I’ve discussed why auditors are hated and how auditors can be lovable. But when I saw a Q & A in the ISACA journal about hating auditors, I had to dive in again.  Here’s the gist of the article, with my comments in italics. Although there’s some similarity to the posts I’ve mentioned above, they take a slightly different tack through the audit seas.

Auditors that do the following are “hated”…