risk
Lack of independent audit and compliance review
Because independent internal and external audit and review of information security are not performed, control deficiencies and non-conformities are neither detected nor challenged, so weaknesses persist unremediated and management and the board lose reliable assurance over control effectiveness.
In catalog since 2026-09-17T22:28:00Z · Last changed 2026-09-17T22:28:00Z (f368a6cce277)
Record JSON · Open in map · Data retrieval guide
Catalog revision: 791ff2dd3a45707290badee660f185e514d15f1cf518908628f425c2f2c56ee4. A connection does not establish full coverage.
Attributes
- category
- compliance_regulatory
- domain
- Compliance, Audit & Assurance
- Governance, Policy & Oversight
- taxonomy
- iso-27005-vulnerability
- coso-erm-risk
- inherent_rating
- medium
Details
- risk_id
- compliance-no-independent-audit
- category
- compliance_regulatory
- likelihood
- medium
- impact
- medium
- inherent_rating
- medium
- treatment
- mitigate
- taxonomies
- iso-27005-vulnerability
- coso-erm-risk
Source
No record-specific source URL is provided.
Connections
- UC-AUDIT-11 — Establish audit methodologies and engagement work programs mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Documented engagement methodologies and approved work programs are how conformant independent audit is planned and performed.
- UC-AUDIT-06 — Ensure auditor competency and continuing development mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Collective competency and continuing professional development are required for the function to deliver credible independent assurance.
- UC-AUDIT-23 — Coordinate independent assurance reviews across providers mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Planning and obtaining independent reviews of information security at intervals and after change (ISO A.5.35) is the independent-review control this risk lacks.
- UC-AUDIT-02 — Establish a board-approved internal audit mandate and charter mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- A board-approved mandate/charter granting unrestricted access to records and personnel establishes the authority for independent audit to operate.
- UC-AUDIT-01 — Maintain an independent internal audit function mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- An independent internal audit function reporting functionally to the board is exactly the independent-assurance capability whose absence defines this risk.
- UC-AUDIT-12 — Plan engagements with risk-based objectives, scope, and criteria mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Engagement-level risk assessment, objectives, scope, and criteria are core planning steps of a conformant independent audit.
- UC-AUDIT-05 — Maintain auditor objectivity and disclose impairments mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Individual objectivity with conflict screening, rotation, and recusal is what makes the audit genuinely independent and its assurance reliable.
- UC-GOV-22 — Assess control effectiveness and authorize systems mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Regularly assessing control effectiveness and tracking findings to closure detects and challenges deficiencies that would otherwise persist.
- UC-AUDIT-15 — Document and supervise engagement work mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Sufficient workpaper documentation and engagement supervision/review ensure the quality and conformance that make an audit truly independent.
- UC-AUDIT-20 — Obtain external quality assessments of internal audit mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- A periodic external quality assessment by an independent assessor is itself an independent review validating audit conformance.
- UC-AUDIT-08 — Protect confidential information obtained in audit work mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Confidentiality (IIA Principle 5) is a required element of the IIA-conformant internal-audit function this risk lacks.
- UC-AUDIT-14 — Evaluate findings and develop recommendations and action plans mitigates Lack of independent audit and compliance review
- strength
- primary
- rationale
- Evaluating findings into conclusions and root-cause recommendations/action plans is core independent-audit output.