IT Assurance & Advisory

Build trust with a robust approach to technology, processes and controls

Businesses are increasingly reliant on technology, which creates opportunities as well as risks. As the regulatory environment grows in complexity, companies must ensure their IT systems are secure and compliant with regulations. Our IT assurance and advisory specialists can work with you to improve your overall technology risk framework and ensure compliance with various information technology regulations.

Our approach

Digital transformation has created significant efficiencies for companies, opened up new business opportunities, and in many cases helped to drive growth. But as IT systems become more and more complex, it is critical that companies are aware of the potential risks they face. These include cyber security threats, data leaks, system disruption and potential non-compliance with regulations or internal requirements.

At Mazars, our IT assurance advisors take an integrated, risk-based approach to provide deep insight into technology risks. We offer extensive sector experience across a broad spectrum of technology consulting and assurance solutions, covering IT audit, cyber security, data protection, data management, and IT system assesments.

Our focus is on providing you with high quality solutions that work for you and your organisation.

How can we help?

We can help you with the following services:

• IT audit. We work with you to achieve your audit objectives. These processes can focus on different parts of your IT environment and related processes.
• Diagnostic reviews. Our diagnostic analyses help you understand control weaknesses in your IT environment and improve your overall technology risk framework. We cover a range of specific risk areas such as cyber security, data privacy, IT strategy and IT capability, business continuity and disaster recovery, data quality, information governance and data protection/GDPR.
• Compliance with legislation and regulations. We provide advice and guidance on IT regulatory compliance, prioritising identifying and resolving issues before they can cause you harm. This includes identifying and managing regulatory risks in guiding compliance assurance and providing assurance that the various regulatory risks are being assessed, managed, and mitigated in an effective manner.
• IT risk management - We help you assess and manage IT risks so you can focus on achieving your business objectives. Our services include conducting reviews, providing maturity assessments, and creating IT risk registers.
• Cyber Security. We can help you implement a framework that will enable you to adequately and continuously monitor key activities and respond to cyber-attacks as they occur. We can also help you assess internal and external cyber risks, develop, and strengthen cyber security and improve resilience.
• Independent assurance on project delivery - We can provide independent assistance to management and project boards to help them effectively implement new systems and projects by identifying project anomalies and mitigating project risks before they occur. We can also extend the service to assist with project preparation or by carrying out a project audit.
• IT due diligence. In the case of mergers and acquisitions, we provide in-depth analysis and specific insights into the technology landscape to help boards and investors make informed decisions as part of the requirements on the buyer or seller side.
• Service organisation controls reporting. We provide independent assurance on the controls implemented by service organisations. Service organisations demonstrate their internal control environment to gain the business confidence of their existing or potential customers. We assist our clients in obtaining assurance in accordance with applicable standards such as AICPA SSAE18 or ISAE 3402 or 3000. Our services cover the design (Type 1 report) and operational effectiveness (Type 2 report) of controls in service organizations.
• Information Security Management System. We identify threats and vulnerabilities in your physical and digital environment in order to protect the information you own, achieve ISO/IEC 27001 compliance or help you establish a solid foundation in information security.
• Data protection. We help you comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other local legislation by helping you define the personal data lifecycle, risk analysis and Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).
• Business Continuity. We help you identify threats affecting your business, implement business continuity objectives, develop a business continuity plan and disaster recovery procedures, and conduct business continuity tests. In addition, we can prepare you for ISO 22301 compliance.
• External security assessments and penetration tests. We test how resilient your external infrastructure is against hacker attacks by simulating attacks. We check websites and applications, mail server security configurations, remote access and all other services open to the Internet. We also review information from public sources, looking for sensitive and confidential company information.
• Internal security assessments and penetration tests. We test how secure your ICT infrastructure is on your internal network. We check the effectiveness of internal security controls, whether it's an attacker or a disgruntled employee with access to internal resources that can be exploited. We simulate malware attacks and make recommendations to improve cyber security.
• Penetration testing of web, mobile and desktop applications. We perform comprehensive penetration tests for all types of applications - mobile, web and desktop - using internationally recognised methodologies.
• Cyber incident response. If you are the victim of a cyber-attack, we can help you with both consulting and forensic analysis. The latter can answer questions such as how the attack happened, what damage it caused and what configuration changes the attacker made to your ICT infrastructure. This helps to prevent attackers from infiltrating your network again.
• Conduct training. The human is the weakest link in the security chain, as just a few wrong clicks can open the door to hackers entering your company or compromise the overall level of IT security. We provide various training courses for your employees on the safe use of information systems. Training can include lectures, presentations to management, workshops and simulations of phishing attacks.