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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Cybersecurity Auditor

💰 $80,000 - $150,000

CybersecurityAuditITComplianceInformation Security

🎯 Role Definition

The Cybersecurity Auditor is responsible for independently evaluating the effectiveness of information security controls, compliance with regulatory frameworks, and risk posture across people, processes, and technology. This role designs and executes audit programs, performs control testing, documents findings, and partners with technical teams to drive remediation and continuous security improvement. Typical focus areas include IT General Controls (ITGC), application controls, cloud security, identity and access management, vulnerability management, incident response readiness, and third‑party/vendor risk. Strong experience with frameworks such as NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 1/2/3, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and SOX is expected.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • IT Auditor / Junior IT Auditor
  • Security Analyst / SOC Analyst
  • Compliance Analyst / Risk Analyst

Advancement To:

  • Senior Cybersecurity Auditor / Lead Auditor
  • IT Audit Manager / Security Audit Manager
  • Manager, Information Security Risk & Compliance
  • Director of IT Audit / Director of Information Security

Lateral Moves:

  • Security Consultant (GRC)
  • Cloud Security Engineer
  • Vulnerability Management Lead
  • Third‑Party Risk Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Plan, scope and execute IT and cybersecurity audits across infrastructure, applications, cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP), and operational processes to evaluate design and operational effectiveness of controls and identify security gaps.
  • Develop detailed audit programs and test plans aligned with NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA and SOX requirements and tailor procedures to the organization’s risk profile.
  • Perform control testing for IT General Controls (change management, logical access, backup & recovery, segregation of duties) and application controls to validate adherence to policy and regulatory requirements.
  • Conduct vulnerability assessments and coordinate with vulnerability management teams to validate remediation, leveraging tools such as Nessus, Qualys, Tenable, or Rapid7 and interpreting scan results in audit contexts.
  • Execute configuration and security posture reviews for cloud services (IAM configuration, VPC/Subnet design, security groups, encryption at rest/in transit, cloud logging) and provide prescriptive remediation guidance.
  • Test identity and access management controls including provisioning/deprovisioning processes, privileged access management, multi‑factor authentication, role‑based access controls, and periodic access reviews.
  • Review and test security incident detection and response capabilities, including SIEM/SOC integration, alert tuning, playbook effectiveness, logging completeness, and incident evidence retention practices.
  • Audit change control processes and release management to ensure proper approvals, code review, deployment segregation, and rollback procedures in the SDLC and CI/CD pipelines.
  • Assess encryption, key management, and cryptographic control implementations for databases, storage, applications and communications to confirm alignment with policy and best practices.
  • Evaluate third‑party/vendor security and privacy controls through vendor risk assessments, review of contracts and evidence, and on‑site or remote audits where applicable.
  • Perform penetration test oversight by reviewing scope, methodology and results from internal or third‑party pen tests and ensuring findings are prioritized and remediated appropriately.
  • Review network security architecture, firewall rules, segmentation, and VPN configurations for weaknesses and recommend improvements to reduce attack surface and lateral movement risk.
  • Validate backup, disaster recovery and business continuity plans for critical systems and test recovery procedures to ensure timely restoration and acceptable RTO/RPO.
  • Conduct data protection and privacy audits focusing on sensitive data classification, encryption, data retention, deletion processes, and compliance with applicable privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA).
  • Prepare clear, actionable audit findings, risk ratings and remediation recommendations; draft executive summaries and detailed technical evidence for stakeholders and audit committees.
  • Track remediation progress, verify corrective actions, and escalate persistent risk items to management with timelines and risk mitigation strategies through GRC or ticketing tools (Archer, ServiceNow, Jira).
  • Lead and coordinate external auditor requests and supports SOC/ISO/PCI audits by providing evidence, process walkthroughs, and facilitating meetings with control owners.
  • Maintain audit workpapers, ensure documentation meets professional standards (AICPA, IIA) and supports audit conclusions, while protecting the confidentiality of audit evidence.
  • Automate recurring audit tests and continuous monitoring where possible using scripting (Python, PowerShell), API integrations, SIEM queries, or scheduled configuration checks to improve audit efficiency and coverage.
  • Conduct security control gap analyses and maturity assessments, benchmark practices against industry standards, and propose prioritized remediation roadmaps to reduce organizational risk.
  • Provide security awareness input and training to control owners to improve understanding of audit expectations, change control discipline, and secure operational behaviors.
  • Collaborate with legal, compliance, IT, engineering and business teams to interpret regulatory requirements and translate compliance obligations into technical and operational controls.
  • Validate application security controls including secure coding practices, SAST/DAST tool utilization, dependency management, and remediation closure for identified vulnerabilities.
  • Evaluate logging, monitoring and observability coverage across systems and applications to ensure adequate telemetry is collected for audit, forensics, and compliance needs.
  • Maintain current knowledge of emerging threats, regulatory changes, and security best practices to continuously refine audit approaches and ensure organizational alignment with evolving risk.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad‑hoc security assessments and special investigations arising from incidents or regulatory inquiries.
  • Contribute to the organization’s security and compliance roadmaps by identifying systemic gaps discovered during audits and recommending strategic control investments.
  • Assist in the development and maintenance of security policies, standards and procedures to improve control clarity and enforceability.
  • Participate in cross‑functional security initiatives, including secure design reviews, pre‑deployment consultations and risk acceptance reviews.
  • Help develop templates, checklists and automated workflows to standardize audit evidence collection and control testing.
  • Mentor junior auditors and security analysts on auditing methodologies, evidence gathering and technical testing techniques.
  • Represent the audit function in project governance forums to ensure new initiatives incorporate required security controls from inception.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Strong knowledge of audit frameworks and standards: NIST CSF, NIST SP 800‑53, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor principles, SOC 1/2/3 and COBIT.
  • Hands‑on experience testing IT General Controls (ITGC): change management, logical access, operations, backups and segregation of duties.
  • Experience with regulatory and industry compliance programs: PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX IT controls, GDPR, CCPA.
  • Proficiency in vulnerability assessment and remediation validation using tools such as Nessus, Qualys, Tenable, Rapid7 or similar.
  • Familiarity with penetration testing concepts and reviewing results from tools like Burp Suite, Metasploit or external pen test reports.
  • Cloud security auditing skills across AWS, Azure and GCP including experience with Identity and Access Management (IAM), cloud-native logging, and cloud configuration hardening.
  • SIEM and log analysis experience (Splunk, Elastic, Azure Sentinel, Sumo Logic) for detection, alert quality assessment and forensic evidence.
  • Knowledge of identity and access management (IAM), Single Sign‑On, MFA, privileged account management and RBAC testing techniques.
  • Experience with GRC and ticketing tools (e.g., RSA Archer, ServiceNow GRC, MetricStream, Jira) for issue tracking, evidence management and remediation workflows.
  • Scripting and automation skills (Python, PowerShell, Bash) to automate evidence collection, log parsing, and repeatable audit tests.
  • Understanding of secure software development lifecycle (SDLC), SAST/DAST tools, dependency scanning and release controls.
  • Familiarity with encryption technologies, key management, TLS configuration, and database encryption testing.
  • Experience conducting third‑party/vendor risk assessments and analyzing vendor security questionnaires (SIG, CAIQ).
  • Ability to interpret network design and firewall rulebases, and perform segmentation testing and network traffic analysis.
  • Proficient report writing capabilities for technical and executive audiences; ability to distill technical findings into business impact.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional verbal and written communication — able to present technical findings to non‑technical executives and audit committees.
  • Strong analytical thinking and attention to detail for reconstructing event sequences and validating control operating effectiveness.
  • Stakeholder management and influence — ability to drive remediation across IT, engineering, and business teams without direct authority.
  • Project management skills to manage multiple concurrent audits, deadlines and deliverables.
  • Critical thinking and investigative mindset for performing root‑cause analysis and recommending feasible mitigations.
  • High ethical standards, integrity and ability to handle sensitive/confidential information discreetly.
  • Collaboration and teamwork oriented — works effectively with cross‑functional groups and external auditors.
  • Time management and organizational skills to prioritize risk‑based audit activities and follow through on remediation verification.
  • Adaptability and continuous learning mindset to remain current with evolving technologies, regulations and threat landscape.
  • Teaching and mentoring ability to upskill junior colleagues and promote audit best practices.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Accounting, or related field; or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Business Administration (MBA) with security focus, or advanced technical degree.
  • Professional certifications such as CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor), CISSP, CISM, CRISC, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, or equivalent.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Information Security
  • Computer Science
  • Information Systems / Technology
  • Cybersecurity / Digital Forensics
  • Accounting (for SOX/financial control overlap)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–8 years in IT audit, cybersecurity auditing, risk & compliance, or related technical security roles.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years of progressive experience performing IT and cybersecurity audits in enterprise environments or within a public accounting/consulting firm.
  • Demonstrated experience with SOC 1/SOC 2 engagements, PCI/HIPAA/ISO audits, cloud security assessments, or SOX ITGC testing.
  • Proven track record validating remediation programs, coordinating external audit activities, and producing executive‑level deliverables.
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