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Audit Requirements for Financial Organizations

  • salil05
  • Apr 30
  • 3 min read

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Quarterly and Half Yearly Audits


  1. Core Information Security Audits


Cybersecurity Risk Assessment

  • Frequency: Quarterly

  • Reference: Risk Management Guidelines

  • Scope: Continuous identification of threats, vulnerabilities, and risk posture


IT Infrastructure Security Audit

  • Frequency: Bi-annually

  • Scope: Servers, firewalls, endpoints, VPNs, IDS/IPS, AV/EDR, hardening & patching


Patch & Vulnerability Management Audit

  • Frequency: Quarterly

  • Scope: Patch cycles, VA/PT findings, zero-day response, CVE compliance


  1. Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Testing (VA/PT)


External VA/PT (Public-facing Systems)

  • Frequency: Quarterly

  • Reference: CERT-In Directions

  • Scope: Web portals, APIs, customer apps, online services


Internal VA/PT (Internal Network & Apps)

  • Frequency: Half-yearly

  • Scope: Core banking environment, internal apps, file shares


  1. Specialized Compliance Audits


Phishing Simulation & Social Engineering Tests

  • Frequency: Quarterly

  • Scope: Employee awareness, click rates, training effectiveness


  1. Governance, Regulatory and Policy Compliance


Cybersecurity Awareness Program Audit

  • Frequency: Quarterly

  • Scope: Training completion, awareness scores, incident reporting culture


Regulatory Compliance Matrix Review

  • Frequency: Quarterly

  • Scope: RBI, SEBI, CERT-In circular tracking, implementation mapping


  1. Incident Readiness and Forensics Audit


Cyber Incident Response Audit

  • Frequency: Bi-annually

  • Reference: CERT-In Reporting Requirements

  • Scope: IRP adequacy, roles & responsibilities, containment procedures


  1. Emerging Technologies and Continuous Monitoring Audits


Real-Time Threat Monitoring Effectiveness Review

  • Frequency: Quarterly

  • Scope: EDR, UEBA, threat intel feeds, anomaly detection performance


Blockchain / DLT Use Case Audit

  • Frequency: On Implementation

  • Scope: Smart contracts, node security, consensus integrity



Annual Audits


  • Core Information Security Audits


Annual Information Systems (IS) Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Reference: RBI Cybersecurity Framework for Banks & NBFCs

  • Scope: IS governance, risk assessment, controls, gap analysis


Cybersecurity Framework Compliance Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Reference: RBI Circulars on Cybersecurity (2016 onwards)

  • Scope: Review of implementation maturity of RBI-mandated controls


Identity & Access Management (IAM) Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Role-based access, privilege access, joiner-mover-leaver lifecycle


Vendor / Third-Party Risk Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Reference: RBI Guidelines on Outsourcing of IT Services

  • Scope: Due diligence, SLA enforcement, data handling by vendors


SOC & SIEM Effectiveness Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Log ingestion, alert tuning, incident detection & response performance


Internet & Mobile Banking Security Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Mobile apps, net banking portals, secure coding, authentication flows


API Security Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Reference: Open Banking, CERT-In Guidelines

  • Scope: Access control, rate limiting, data exposure, injection flaw

  • Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Testing (VA/PT)



Mobile Application Penetration Test

  • Frequency: Annually or on major release

  • Scope: Android/iOS apps, data leakage, insecure APIs


Web Application Security Testing (OWASP)

  • Frequency: Annually or per release

  • Scope: OWASP Top 10 risks, business logic abuse, access bypass


Cloud Security Assessment

  • Frequency: Annually or on migration

  • Scope: CSPM, IAM, encryption, logs, third-party integrations

  • Specialized Compliance Audits


SWIFT Security Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Reference: RBI & SWIFT CSCF

  • Scope: Alliance Access, BCP, SWIFT messaging controls


Core Banking System (CBS) Security Review

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Transaction integrity, access logs, GL validations


Digital Payment System Security Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Reference: RBI Guidelines on Digital Payments

  • Scope: IMPS, UPI, NEFT, RTGS, wallet security


ATM / POS / Payment Switch Security Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: PCI DSS controls, EMV, encryption, switch access


Data Center & DR Site Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Physical access, environmental controls, DR drills, redundancy


Business Continuity Plan / DR Drill Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Reference: RBI BCP Circulars

  • Scope: RTO/RPO, simulation tests, crisis communication


Encryption & Key Management Audit

• Frequency: Annually

• Scope: Key rotation, key vaults, HSM compliance, algorithm strength

  • Governance, Regulatory and Policy Compliance


Security Policy Compliance Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Alignment with IT & Security policies (ISMS, AUP, DLP, etc.)


IT Asset Inventory & Classification Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Data classification, asset tagging, disposal procedures

  • Incident Readiness and Forensics Audit


Forensic Readiness Assessment

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Log retention, evidence collection, chain of custody


CERT-In Compliance Audit

  • Frequency: Annually / On-demand

  • Scope: Mandatory reporting timelines, log formats, VAPT logs, 180-day retention

  • Emerging Technologies and Continuous Monitoring Audits


AI/ML Security Governance Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Bias, fairness, model explainability, data poisoning


Blockchain / DLT Use Case Audit

  • Frequency: On Implementation

  • Scope: Smart contracts, node security, consensus integrity


DevSecOps / CI-CD Pipeline Security Audit

  • Frequency: Annually

  • Scope: Secure code commits, build security, container scanning

 
 
 

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