Archive for July 30th, 2007

30
Jul

How to pass a security audit

Interesting article at Dark Reading about security audits with basic tips on how to pass them (or at least how to give it a good try) It starts off with “Nobody passes a security audit on the first try“. Maybe the title should be changed to “Where will the auditors look for issues (and probably find them)“.

The eight general recommendations are:

  • Establish a consistent set of practices for change management
  • Keep your app developers away from production/operations
  • Give users access only to the data and apps they need
  • Shore up physical access to your systems
  • Establish methods to detect security anomalies — and where they come from
  • Map your security processes to real business processes
  • Double (and triple) check your accounting processes
  • Document your work and train your users on what you’ve done

Sounds easy, heh? If you have that reasonably locked down, you’ve gone a long way.