Auditing data centers and disaster recovery is an important aspect of the overall audit process. The objective of auditing data centers and disaster recovery is to assess the effectiveness of the company’s internal controls over these critical systems and processes.
The auditor reviews the company’s data center and disaster recovery policies and procedures, evaluates the design of the company’s data center and disaster recovery controls, assesses the operating effectiveness of these controls, and documents the audit evidence. The auditor also communicates the results to management and evaluates the company’s ability to recover from a disaster. Effective auditing of data centers and disaster recovery is important because it helps to ensure the reliability and availability of critical systems and processes, and helps to protect the company’s assets and data. The auditor’s report on the audit of data centers and disaster recovery provides a record of the auditor’s work and conclusions and helps to improve the overall quality of financial reporting.
Data Center Operations
Although data centers are designed to be automated, they do require staff to operate. As a result, data center operations should be governed by policies, plans, and procedures. The auditor should expect to find the following areas covered by policies, plans,
and procedures:
- Physical access control
- System and facility monitoring
- Facility and equipment planning, tracking, and maintenance
- Response procedures for outages, emergencies, and alarm conditions
Disaster Preparedness
All data centers are susceptible to natural and manmade disasters. History shows that when disaster strikes a data center, the organizations such facilities serve come to a screeching halt. The auditor’s job is to identify and measure physical and administrative controls at the facility that mitigate the risk of data-processing disruptions, including the following:
- System resiliency
- Data backup and restore
- Disaster recovery planning
Scope of Data Center Auditing:
- Datacenter Cooling
- Humidity Control
- Fire Alarm
- Smoke Detectors / Fire extinguishers
- Water Leakage System
- Rodent Control
- Surveillance System
- UPS
- Generator Set
- Power Sources
- Datacenter Monitoring
- Network and Security Architecture
- DR Infrastructure
- Related policies & procedures.
Steps for Auditing Data Centers
The following are the test steps for auditing data centers:
- Review policies and procedures: The auditor should review the company’s data center policies and procedures to ensure that they are adequate and comply with relevant regulations and standards.
- Evaluate control design: The auditor should evaluate the design of the controls in the data center to ensure that they are effective and provide reasonable assurance that the data center is secure and functioning properly.
- Test control operating effectiveness: The auditor should test the operating effectiveness of the controls in the data center, such as physical security, data backup and recovery, and system access controls.
- Document evidence: The auditor should document the evidence obtained during the audit, such as test results and observations, to support the conclusions reached.
- Evaluate disaster recovery plan: The auditor should evaluate the company’s disaster recovery plan to ensure that it is adequate and would be effective in the event of a disaster.
- Evaluate data backup and recovery: The auditor should evaluate the company’s data backup and recovery processes to ensure that data can be restored in the event of a disaster.
- Evaluate physical security: The auditor should evaluate the physical security of the data center, including access controls, fire suppression systems, and environmental controls.
- Evaluate system access controls: The auditor should evaluate the system access controls in the data center, such as user authentication and authorization, to ensure that data is protected from unauthorized access.
- Evaluate network security: The auditor should evaluate the security of the data center’s network, including firewall configurations and network segmentation, to ensure that data is protected from cyber threats.
- Evaluate data protection: The auditor should evaluate the protection of sensitive data in the data center, such as data encryption and access controls.
Checklist for Auditing Data Center:
- Review of policies and procedures
- Evaluation of control design
- Testing of control operating effectiveness
- Documentation of evidence
- Evaluation of disaster recovery plan
- Neighborhood and external risk factors
- Evaluation of physical security
- Evaluation of system access controls
- Evaluation of network security
- Evaluation of data protection
- Environmental controls
- Power and electricity
- Fire suppression
- Data center operations
- System resiliency
- Evaluation of data backup and recovery
Conclusion
The conclusion of an audit of data centers and disaster recovery can be summarized as follows:
- The auditor has assessed the design, operating effectiveness, and documentation of controls related to the data center and disaster recovery.
- The auditor has evaluated the company’s policies, procedures, and plans related to the data center and disaster recovery and has tested their implementation.
- Based on the audit findings, the auditor has determined the effectiveness and adequacy of the controls in place and has provided recommendations for improvement where necessary.
- The auditor has documented the audit evidence and has reported the results of the audit to management.
- Finally, the auditor has provided assurance that the data center and disaster recovery processes are functioning as intended and that the company’s critical data is adequately protected.