Cybersecurity threats are growing in complexity, and companies must be proactive to manage risks.
Key takeaways
Internal audit can play a vital role to assess, strengthen and sustain cybersecurity efforts.
Internal audit can help your business build cyber resilience and protect what matters most.
Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue—it’s a board-level priority and a core business risk. As cyberthreats grow in scale and sophistication, organizations must take a proactive, enterprise-wide approach to managing digital risk. Internal audit plays a vital role in this effort, serving as an independent, strategic partner that helps organizations assess, strengthen and sustain their cybersecurity posture.
Internal audit teams need to consider their importance to cybersecurity and evolve their approach—moving beyond compliance to deliver real-time insight, assurance and value.
The expanding cyber risk landscape
The cyberthreat landscape is more complex than ever, with organizations facing a wide range of risks, including:
- Ransomware and extortion attacks
- Cloud misconfigurations and data breaches
- Third-party and supply chain vulnerabilities
- AI-generated attacks, including social engineering
- Regulatory noncompliance and reputational damage
These risks are not confined to IT—they affect operations, finance, legal and customer trust. Internal audit is uniquely positioned to evaluate how well cybersecurity is integrated into the broader risk management framework.
How internal audit can support cybersecurity resilience
Internal audit brings independence, objectivity and a risk-based mindset to cybersecurity oversight. Its contributions span several key areas, including:
1. Cybersecurity governance and strategy
Internal audit can assess whether cybersecurity is aligned with business objectives and supported by appropriate governance structures. This includes evaluating:
- Board and executive oversight
- Cybersecurity policies and frameworks (e.g., NIST CSF, ISO 27001)
- Roles and responsibilities across the organization
2. Risk assessment and control evaluation
Internal audit teams can help identify and prioritize cyber risks, then evaluate the design and effectiveness of controls to reduce them. This may involve a more in-depth audit that includes review of technical controls and configurations across high-risk cyber domains such as:
- Identity and access management
- Cloud security
- Network security and endpoint protection
- Data loss prevention and encryption
By testing these controls, internal audit provides assurance that defenses are working as intended.
3. Incident response and business continuity
In the current threat environment, cyber incidents are inevitable. However, internal audit can review your organization’s preparedness by assessing:
- Incident response plans and escalation procedures
- Incident detection rates
- Crisis communication protocols
- Disaster recovery and business continuity programs
- Infrastructure and data resilience
- Lessons learned from post-incident reviews
This helps ensure that when incidents occur, your organization can respond quickly and recover effectively.
4. Third-party risk management
Vendors, partners and suppliers often introduce cyber risk. Internal audit can evaluate third-party risk management programs, including:
- Due diligence and onboarding processes
- Contractual security requirements
- Ongoing monitoring and reassessment
This process is especially critical as organizations increasingly rely on cloud services and outsourced solutions.
Bridging the gap between IT and the business
One of internal audit’s most valuable roles is translating technical cybersecurity issues into business terms. By doing so, audit teams help leadership understand:
- The financial and operational impact of cyber risks
- The effectiveness of current investments in cybersecurity
- Where gaps exist and how to prioritize remediation
This bridge-building function enhances trust and communication, supports informed decision making and fosters a culture of shared accountability for cyber risk.
Evolving the internal audit skill set
To keep pace with growing cyberthreats, internal audit functions need to adapt and are expanding their capabilities. This includes:
- Upskilling auditors in cybersecurity principles and frameworks
- Co-sourcing with cybersecurity specialists to access deep technical expertise
- Leveraging data analytics and automation to enhance internal audit coverage and efficiency
These investments enable internal audit to provide more meaningful assurance and insight in a rapidly changing environment.
The takeaway
Cybersecurity is a business risk—and internal audit is a critical business partner. By providing independent assurance, identifying control gaps and supporting continual improvement, internal audit helps your organization build cyber resilience and protect what matters most.
At RSM, we help internal audit teams assess their cybersecurity coverage, enhance their capabilities and align their efforts with enterprise risk priorities. In a world where cyberthreats are constant, internal audit is a constant source of clarity, confidence and control.
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