Compliance auditing can be loosely defined as the process of systematically examining the books of records, the business processes and the entire associated infrastructure to ensure that organization is following the fair practices as recommended by the regulatory bodies. The regulatory standards that an organization has to follow depend on the industry vertical that they operate in. One of the most important purposes of the auditing is to ensure that interest of all stakeholders are protected and due diligence is followed in doing all the business transactions to create a risk-free business environment. The other benefits include process improvement, control, improved efficiency etc.
Overview of some global auditing standards
Some of the major compliance standards are Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the SOX, HIPAA, PCI, and GLBA. SOX compliance was enacted in the year 2002 and is also known as Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act. As the name suggests the act is applicable to all the publicly traded companies of small, medium, and large size. The act makes CEOs of the publicly traded companies directly responsible for the accuracy and control of the financial reporting, IT processes, and systems. HIPAA deals with all the organizations dealing with health care records of the patients. The aim of the act is to protect the confidentiality and security of the healthcare information and control administrative costs. PCI deals with all the Merchants and Financial Institutions, who store, transact or process payment card data. GLBA gives guidelines to financial institutions regarding private information of the individuals. The act is also known as Financial Modernization Act.
Why Security Compliance Auditing is Important ?
Ensures smooth business operations: Staying complaint to regulatory standards means the businesses of the company is carried out smoothly without any obstacles. Otherwise, organizations may find themselves in legal issues resulting in financial penalties, court cases, and compromise in safety and security of the employees and other assets.
Reputation Management: Staying complaint to external regulatory standards means you can declare to all the stakeholders most importantly to your customers that it is safe to do business with you.
More efficient Business Processes: Being security compliant means you follow the suggestions of the subject matter experts which would generally lead to more efficient businesses processes.
Cost Saving: When the organization is fully compliant, there are no financial penalties and no system downtime’s resulting in cost savings which might arise due to non-compliance.
Higher Employee Retention: Working in a globally compliant organization means employees are safe and secure and there is a greater job satisfaction. Which means attrition is not a problem.