Cyber Essentials: What is a Cyber Security Review?

A cyber security review is essential for any organisation that wants to protect it’s data and network. It helps to identify cyber security weaknesses and determine whether best practices are being followed and that comply with relevant security and data privacy laws, such as Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, GDPR, ISO27001 and the NHS DSP Toolkit.

In this blog, we explain how cyber security audits work and the benefits of undertaking a cyber security evaluation.

What is a cyber security review?

A cyber security review is a comprehensive audit of an organisation’s IT infrastructure. This type of IT evaluation ensures that appropriate policies and procedures have been implemented and are working effectively such as data protection and safeguarding against cyber threats.

At CT, the first stage of our cyber security review is to understand your business needs and expectations of the review. The high-level requirements of the cyber security review will be outlined to ensure we are working towards the same goals.

The cyber security audit will identify any potential vulnerabilities in the current IT infrastructure that could result in a cyber-attack. This includes weaknesses that allow unauthorised access to sensitive information, as well as poor internal practices that might result in employees accidentally or negligently breaching confidential information.

The outcome of the cyber security review is a comprehensive risk report that will give the board and senior management team peace of mind regarding the current cyber security standards, whilst also pinpointing impartial remedial recommendations.

Armed with this knowledge of potential vulnerabilities, you can take appropriate measures to enhance security and gain the confidence needed to achieve security certifications like Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, IS027001, and the NHS DSP Toolkit. This confidence in your organisation’s defences extends to your deliverables and enhances your ability to attract more clients and contracts, as your customers, partners and service users recognise your organisation as security conscious.

Advantages of a cyber security audit

The main advantage of a cyber security audit is they identify security and compliance weaknesses. With a thorough assessment, you will gain a comprehensive overview of current IT systems and insights on the best way to address vulnerabilities and strengthen cyber security.

At CT, we ensure your cyber security review is a simple and straightforward process, designed to develop a security-focused roadmap tailored to your organisation’s needs. The audit will showcase your current IT defences whilst also investigating areas of improvement needed for certifications such as Cyber Essentials or the NHS DSP Toolkit.

What does a cyber security audit cover?

A cyber security review audits the security of your organisation’s current IT systems. This includes infrastructure, the software you use and employee devices.

However, this is only one aspect of cyber security, and our comprehensive cyber security assessment doesn’t stop at technical resilience. It will also assess:

• Infrastructure security
• Applications & user access
• Policies & documentation
• Business continuity
• Cloud services

Each aspect of the review ensures  whether relevant controls are in place, optimised and implemented in line with important compliance and security standards.

How often should you conduct a cyber security review?

Organisations should conduct a cyber security review at least once a year. However, more frequent audits may be necessary depending on several factors.

One of those factors is the organisation’s size and its available resources. Large organisations typically need to conduct cyber security audits more frequently. With a greater number of systems and more complex procedures comes an increased cyber security risk.

Organisations should also conduct a cyber security review whenever they make significant operational changes or if a new version of a compliance standard is released.

At CT, Cyber Security is at the heart of everything we do. Request your cyber security review today to stay one step ahead of threats, protect your business, and build trust with your customers, service users and partners.