An IT audit or data know-how audit is an examination of the working of the data know-how infrastructure. This seeks to search out out if there may be correct working within the IT sector and if correct management is being maintained. These audits may be undertaken independently or in affiliation with different types of company audit akin to monetary audit, stock audit and many others. IT audit was previously known as EDP or Digital Information Processing audit. The primary function of an IT audit is to search out out if the data system is working effectively. It tries to search out out if the data system is safeguarding property, and dealing in direction of the general development of the group audit.

Though each IT audit and monetary audit is directed in direction of the evaluation of the working of the group, there are numerous distinguished methods wherein these two differ. In case of monetary audit, the auditor lays a variety of significance on inside management. It’s primarily of significance as a result of the auditor has to later extensively place reliance on inside management. On account of this, the work of the auditor will get considerably lowered he doesn’t must make an in depth examine of all of the monetary books whereas conducting the monetary audit. On the opposite hand, the main target of IT audit is to search out out the dangers related to the data property and checking if there are sufficient measures in drive to eradicate or scale back these dangers. An auditor tries to guage the data techniques availability, its confidentiality and its integrity by answering sure questions. For instance to verify the supply, the auditor asks if pc techniques could be out there for enterprise when it’s required. The confidentiality may be checked by seeing if the data within the system may be accessed by unauthorized customers. The auditor can fulfill himself relating to the integrity by checking if the data supplied by the system is correct, well timed and dependable. An IT audit can take two types it may be both of the type of a “basic management assessment” or an “utility management assessment”.

There are three broad approaches to hold out an audit. They’re technological innovation course of audit, progressive comparability audit and technological place audit.

Within the case of innovation course of audit, the auditor tries to search out out the danger profile of its new and present tasks by assessing the expertise of the company in its chosen discipline, the trade and the market.

Comparability audit offers with evaluation of the businesses progressive talents as in comparison with its opponents.

Technological place audit offers with reviewing the applied sciences wanted by the enterprise. It additionally classifies them in to one of many 4 classes of base, key, pacing and rising.

The auditors who carry out IT audit maintain an important duty and therefore it is strongly recommended that solely folks with the required ability ought to be appointed because the auditor. The particular person to be given the publish of an auditor ought to have an sufficient data of data system together with this; he also needs to have a basic understanding of the accounting ideas. Other than this it’s at all times helpful to nominate an auditor who has acquired the CISA (Licensed Info Methods Auditor) credentials.