AUDIT 429

IT Security Audit Essentials Bootcamp

This hands-on bootcamp course will help you get started in the field of information technology and security auditing.

In the SANS AUD429: IT Security Audit Essentials course, we feel that we have put together a very strong audit training program, giving both audit theory and strong technical details. It covers the essentials of security, compliance, and IT auditing -- everything you need, nothing you don't. As each topic is discussed in the class, we will strive to first teach the underlying theories and then explain how and what about these topics require the attention of an auditor or compliance officer.

The course is presented hands-on so that students can receive the most benefit by actually trying what is described in the lectures. This class is not a CISA prep course; instead, this course, AUDIT 410: IT Security Audit and Control Essentials, and AUDIT 507: Auditing Networks, Perimeters, and Systems fill in all of the technical how-to blanks, giving you real-world hands-on audit practice for technologies currently in use. Throughout the class we've tried very hard to make sure that we are presenting all of the foundations of information security in connection with current information technology, while continually asking and answering "Why does an auditor care about this?"

In the information assurance and validation field there is a real need for qualified auditors. Without professionals who can help us to see how well we're performing security tasks, we create blind spots in our security vision, believing that we are perhaps more secure than we actually are. The trouble is finding a source of comprehensive Infosec information as it applies to auditing. This class was created to address this specific need and allows an attendee to leave with all of the key security principles and concepts from security essentials coupled with a clear understanding of how to apply them to information assurance and auditing.

IT Security Audit Essentials is designed for individuals entering the information security industry who are tasked with auditing organization policy, procedure, risk, or policy conformance. This course will help students develop a firm grasp of information security principles and issues and will equip them to develop best practice audit checklists. Audit 429 helps you prepare for SANS signature audit course, Audit 507: Auditing Networks, Perimeters, and Systems.

As a SysAdmin, I found this tack invaluable. It not only gave me the skills I need to audit my own systems, but also gave me some insight on how to better work with external auditors.
-Christoper O'Keefe, CPC