Collectively, these comments suggest that internal audit can potentially add value in severalways. As Fig. 2
shows,we expect that feedback frominternal audit can identify opportunities to improve the effectiveness of
all types of information systems controls. For example, the results of an internal security audit can indicate the
actual level of end user compliance with policies. An internal audit can also assess the timeliness of acting on
information from security logs and other monitoring systems. Finally, it can identify the extent of corrective
actions, such as the percentage of devices whose configurations have been modified in response to
vulnerability scans. As we will discuss later, the outcomes associated with different levels of collaboration
between the internal audit and information security functions are an important topic for future research.
From the perspective of internal audit, a good relationship with the information security function is
perceived to improve risk management: