A cloud auditor is a party that can perform an independent examination of cloud service controls with the intent to express an opinion thereon. Audits are performed to verify conformance to standards through review of objective evidence. A cloud auditor can evaluate the services provided by a cloud provider in terms of security controls, privacy impact, performance, etc.

Auditing is especially important for federal agencies as “agencies should include a contractual clause enabling third parties to assess security controls of cloud providers”.

Cloud Security Audit?

Security controls are the management, operational, and technical safeguards or countermeasures employed within an organizational information system to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system and its information.

For security auditing, a cloud auditor can make an assessment of the security controls in the information system to determine the extent to which the controls are implemented correctly, operating as intended, and producing the desired outcome with respect to the security requirements for the system.

The security auditing should also include the verification of the compliance with regulation and security policy. For example, an auditor can be tasked with ensuring that the correct policies are applied to data retention according to relevant rules for the jurisdiction. The auditor may ensure that fixed content has not been modified and that the legal and business data archival requirements have been satisfied.

A privacy impact audit can help Federal agencies comply with applicable privacy laws and regulations governing an individual’s privacy, and to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an individual’s personal information at every stage of development and operation.

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