Introduction to IT Auditing Chapter One Introduction to IT Auditing

Outline IT Governance The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Types of Information Systems The Role of the IT Auditor

IT Governance …the process for controlling an organization’s IT resources, including information and communication systems, and technology. …using IT to promote an organization’s objectives and enable business processes and to manage and control IT related risks.

Strategic Alignment

Information Criteria CIA Triangle Cobit “add-ons” Confidentialilty Integrity Availability Cobit “add-ons” Effectiveness Efficiency Compliance Reliability

CobiT’s IT Governance Management Guideline Identifies critical success factors, key goal and performance indicators, and an IT governance maturity model. IT governance framework begins with setting IT objectives and measures and compares performance against them

Systems development life cycle (SDLC) Provides overall framework for managing system development process All projects use some variation of SDLC Phases are sequential but may include some overlap May even include iterations of some or all of the phases

Phases of the Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC) Project planning: initiate, ensure feasibility, plan schedule, obtain approval for project Analysis: understand business needs and processing requirements Design: define solution system based on requirements and analysis decisions Implementation: construction, testing, user training, and installation of new system Support: keep system running and improve

Systems development life cycle (SDLC) In COBIT, these phases (domains) are: Plan and Organize (PO) Acquire and Implement (AI) Deliver and Support (DS) Monitor and Evaluate (ME)

Types of Information Systems

Message Transmission Example

Types of Information Systems Information Systems include not only hardware and software but… People Procedures* Data In Cobit, these “assets” include Applications (like software) Technology (like hardware) Facilities * Note: Procedures (processes) are “subsets” of the domains in CobiT

IT and Transaction (Tx) Processing The IS collects transaction data The IS turns data into information Computerized Tx systems increase some risks and decrease others

What do IT auditors do? Ensure IT governance by assessing risks and monitoring controls over those risks Works as either internal or external auditor Works on many kind of audit engagements

Financial vs IT Audits IT auditors may work on financial audit engagements IT auditors may work on every step of the financial audit engagement Standards, such as SAS No. 94, guide the work of IT auditors on financial audit engagements IT audit work on financial audit engagements is likely to increase as internal control evaluation becomes more important

IT Audit Skills College education – IS, computer science, accounting Certifications – CPA, CFE, CIA, CISA, CISSP, and special technical certifications Technical IT audit skills – specialized technologies General personal and business skills

Professional Groups and Certifications – Alphabet Soup ISACA – CISA/CISM IIA – CIA ACFE – CFE AICPA – CPA and CITP

How to Structure an IT Audit AICPA Standards and Guidelines – GAAS, SAS, and SSAE IFAC Guidelines – harmonized or common international accounting standards and guidelines ISACA standards, guidelines, and procedures – includes CobiT and audit standards

An Overview of the Book Section I – an introduction to IT audit, the legal and ethical environment of the IT audit, introduction to risks and controls Section II – risks over specific processes and technologies – deployment of IS, operation of IS, network systems, and e-business systems Section III – how to do an It audit – use of CAATTs and a step-by-step IT audit Appendices – ACL tutorial and IT audit glossary