IT Audits and Assessments
Audits and assessments give you assurance that your systems are working effectively and are achieving the goals and objectives of your business.
Audits and assessments give you assurance that your systems are working effectively and are achieving the goals and objectives of your business.
An IT security audit is an independent verification, mapped against industry best practices and standards, to give you the certainty that your system is working at optimal efficiency.
You may believe that your IT system is working well and does not have any issues, but unless you are an IT expert, how can you be 100% certain? Having an independent IT audit of your system could show that everything is fine and there are no issues to worry about, or it could identify weak areas, issues or areas that could be brought up to date and made more effective. In which case you can do something about it.
To use an analogy, whilst you are required by law to have an MOT, you do not have to have your car serviced. However, having a service gives you peace of mind that your car is safe and well maintained, and that any issues will be identified and dealt with before they have a chance to become an expensive and time-consuming problem.
Why not take a minute now to do an online Cyber Resilience Check?
There is also the problem that many companies add hardware and software to their IT system on somewhat of an ad-hoc basis which means that, as a whole, the system is not necessarily as efficient as it could be. Following one IT audit, we were able to make recommendations to a client to update and modernise their IT systems by redistributing their annual IT spend. These changes could be made to the clients IT systems for the same amount of money as their annual IT spend, delivering many improvements, including hardware and software upgrades. The cost efficiencies were so great, the whole exercise was cost-neutral in the first year and delivered massive savings going forward.
We validate your practices on passwords, password renewals, account and firewall protection against the criteria for Cyber Essentials certification, the government standard for cybersecurity.
We are often told by companies that their IT systems are working fine and they do not have any issues with cyber security so why would we need to have an assessment, they ask. The truth of the matter is you don’t know what you don’t know and having an independent assessment of your systems in the worst-case scenario will give you peace of mind that your systems are safe. However, a high percentage of the time the assessment gives a very different picture and provides a road map for improving the protection of your systems.
In addition to the Basic Security Audit, we will look at your hardware to assess how well it is working, whether or not it is fit for purpose, and how it is configured.
This is the most thorough audit which, in addition to the Basic Security and Technical Audits, looks at your overall IT operation. This includes assessing the skill levels of staff in your internal IT department, if you have one, your general practices with regard to cybersecurity online and offline (do your staff keep passwords on Post-It notes in their desk drawers, for instance), and your overall spend versus the age of your equipment – the older it is, the more expensive it is to maintain.
Being wrong about the condition and security of your IT infrastructure can have a dramatic impact on your business that some organisations never recover from. Can you afford to be wrong about the condition and security of your systems?
Our IT audits are an independent verification, mapped against industry best practices and standards, to give you the certainty that your system is working at optimal efficiency, giving you the peace of mind that will enable you to sleep better at night.
Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP have been using Lumina Technologies for a number of years now and continue to be impressed by the technical know-how and contemporary knowledge of their senior management, who provide a timely, efficient and friendly service. Whether it is a small issue with one computer, or a strategic IT decision, they maintain a current knowledge of available technologies. Lumina are always at the other end of the phone to help resolve issues and minimise business interference. The technical knowledge of Richard and his senior team means that there has not been a problem that they can’t solve to date. I am sure we will continue to use them in the years to come.
Charles Douglas
Managing Partner, Charles Douglas Solicitors LLP
