Course Introduction
Information Security Management Systems Auditing Training Course provides a comprehensive and practical framework for professionals responsible for auditing information security management systems, evaluating security governance, assessing control effectiveness, and providing assurance over organisational information protection arrangements. The programme develops the knowledge and practical capabilities required to conduct structured, risk-based ISMS audits across complex organisations and technology environments.
The course examines the complete ISMS audit lifecycle, including audit planning, scope definition, risk assessment, audit criteria, evidence collection, control testing, findings development, reporting, corrective action, and follow-up. Participants will learn how to assess whether information security policies, processes, controls, responsibilities, and monitoring arrangements are appropriately designed, implemented, maintained, and continually improved.
Particular attention is given to the relationship between information security governance, organisational risk management, business objectives, compliance obligations, and operational resilience. Participants will explore how auditors can evaluate security leadership, asset management, access controls, cryptography, physical security, operational security, supplier relationships, incident management, business continuity, and information security performance.
The programme also addresses the practical challenges of auditing modern ISMS environments, including cloud computing, remote and hybrid work, outsourced services, mobile technologies, artificial intelligence, automation, interconnected digital ecosystems, and increasingly complex cyber threats. Participants will learn how to adapt traditional audit techniques to dynamic technology environments while maintaining evidence quality and professional audit discipline.
Through practical audit scenarios, control assessment exercises, evidence evaluation, risk-based testing, and report-writing activities, participants will strengthen their ability to identify nonconformities, control weaknesses, risks, root causes, and opportunities for improvement. The programme also develops professional judgement and communication skills required to engage effectively with information security managers, system owners, risk professionals, executives, and other stakeholders.
By completing this programme, participants will be better equipped to plan and conduct ISMS audits, evaluate information security controls, assess management-system effectiveness, document audit evidence, communicate findings, and monitor corrective actions. The course supports organisations seeking stronger information security governance, improved assurance, effective risk treatment, regulatory readiness, and continual improvement of their information security management systems.
Duration
10 days
Who Should Attend
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Internal auditors responsible for evaluating information security governance, controls, risks, and management-system effectiveness.
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ISMS auditors seeking advanced techniques for planning, conducting, documenting, and reporting information security audits.
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Information security managers responsible for maintaining and improving organisational information security management systems.
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Cybersecurity professionals involved in security governance, risk assessment, control implementation, compliance, and assurance activities.
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Risk management professionals responsible for identifying, assessing, treating, monitoring, and reporting information security risks.
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Compliance professionals responsible for evaluating information security requirements against organisational policies and regulatory obligations.
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Quality management professionals seeking to integrate management-system auditing principles with information security assurance activities.
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IT managers and technology leaders responsible for information security governance, system controls, risk management, and assurance.
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Data protection and privacy professionals assessing information security controls supporting sensitive and regulated information.
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External auditors conducting information security, technology, governance, or management-system assurance engagements.
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Business continuity professionals evaluating information security dependencies, resilience, recovery arrangements, and continuity controls.
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Governance, Risk and Compliance specialists coordinating information security controls, audits, risk registers, and remediation programmes.
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Security consultants and advisors supporting organisations with ISMS implementation, audit readiness, control assessment, and continual improvement.
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Audit committee members, senior executives, and managers seeking stronger understanding of information security assurance and management-system performance.
Course Objectives
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Develop advanced knowledge of information security management systems auditing principles, audit methodologies, governance requirements, and risk-based assurance approaches.
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Apply structured techniques for planning, conducting, documenting, reviewing, and reporting ISMS audits across organisational, technological, operational, and third-party environments.
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Evaluate information security governance structures, policies, responsibilities, objectives, leadership oversight, and management processes supporting an effective ISMS.
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Assess information security risk management processes to determine whether risks are systematically identified, analysed, evaluated, treated, monitored, and communicated.
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Evaluate the design and implementation of information security controls and determine whether selected controls appropriately address identified risks and organisational requirements.
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Apply effective audit techniques for gathering, validating, analysing, documenting, and preserving sufficient and reliable evidence to support ISMS audit conclusions.
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Identify and document nonconformities, control weaknesses, observations, risks, root causes, and improvement opportunities using clear, objective, and evidence-based audit language.
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Assess operational information security controls covering access management, asset management, physical security, communications, operations, supplier relationships, and incident management.
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Evaluate ISMS performance monitoring, measurement, internal review, management review, corrective action, and continual improvement processes using appropriate assurance techniques.
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Strengthen the ability to audit cloud services, outsourced operations, remote working, digital platforms, emerging technologies, and other modern information-security environments.
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Produce professional ISMS audit reports and communicate findings effectively to management, process owners, information security leaders, risk committees, and senior stakeholders.
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Develop forward-looking ISMS assurance strategies that integrate emerging cyber risks, technology changes, regulatory expectations, continual improvement, resilience, and organisational security objectives.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Foundations of Information Security Management Systems Auditing
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Principles, purpose, scope, objectives, terminology, and professional responsibilities associated with ISMS auditing.
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Relationships between information security governance, organisational objectives, enterprise risk management, compliance, and management-system assurance.
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ISMS audit lifecycle covering planning, preparation, fieldwork, evidence evaluation, reporting, corrective action, and follow-up.
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Core principles of independence, objectivity, confidentiality, professional judgement, evidence-based conclusions, and ethical audit practice.
Module 2: ISMS Governance, Context and Management-System Requirements
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Organisational context, interested parties, information-security objectives, scope determination, and strategic alignment of the ISMS.
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Leadership responsibilities, security policy governance, accountability structures, roles, authorities, and management commitment.
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ISMS documentation structures, controlled information, management processes, organisational responsibilities, and governance arrangements.
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Evaluating whether the ISMS is integrated with organisational processes, risk management, strategic priorities, and operational decision-making.
Module 3: Information Security Risk Assessment and Treatment Auditing
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Information security risk identification, asset analysis, threat assessment, vulnerability evaluation, likelihood, impact, and risk prioritisation.
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Auditing risk assessment methodologies, criteria, risk registers, risk ownership, treatment decisions, and documented risk acceptance.
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Evaluation of information security risk treatment plans, control selection, implementation evidence, residual risk, and management approvals.
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Monitoring changes in information-security risk profiles and assessing whether the ISMS remains aligned with changing organisational conditions.
Module 4: ISMS Audit Planning, Scope and Engagement Design
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Developing risk-based ISMS audit plans, annual programmes, engagement objectives, scope boundaries, criteria, and audit schedules.
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Audit preparation techniques including preliminary review, process understanding, document analysis, interviews, walkthroughs, and risk profiling.
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Developing audit programmes, testing procedures, evidence requirements, sampling approaches, work allocation, and engagement timelines.
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Managing audit independence, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, access requirements, stakeholder expectations, and engagement communications.
Module 5: Information Asset Management and Classification Auditing
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Auditing information asset inventories, ownership, accountability, classification, handling requirements, lifecycle management, and asset registers.
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Evaluation of information classification schemes, labelling, handling procedures, storage requirements, transfer controls, and disposal practices.
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Assessment of asset ownership, acceptable-use requirements, mobile devices, removable media, software, hardware, and information repositories.
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Testing whether asset management processes remain complete, accurate, current, risk-based, and aligned with information security requirements.
Module 6: Access Control and Identity Management Auditing
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User access lifecycle controls covering provisioning, authorisation, modification, review, suspension, termination, and account reconciliation.
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Privileged access governance, administrator accounts, segregation of duties, elevated permissions, emergency access, and activity monitoring.
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Authentication controls including passwords, multifactor authentication, identity federation, single sign-on, and secure remote access.
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Audit testing for excessive access, dormant accounts, inappropriate privileges, shared credentials, access exceptions, and conflicting responsibilities.
Module 7: Operational Security and Technology Control Auditing
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Auditing operational procedures, malware protection, vulnerability management, patching, configuration management, and secure system administration.
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Evaluation of logging, monitoring, event management, security alerting, operational records, and technology activity oversight.
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Backup, recovery, capacity management, system maintenance, change control, and operational resilience from an ISMS assurance perspective.
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Assessment of network security, endpoint controls, secure communications, infrastructure protection, and technology configuration practices.
Module 8: Physical Security, Environmental Controls and Business Continuity
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Auditing physical access controls, secure areas, entry management, visitor procedures, surveillance, and protection of information-processing facilities.
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Evaluation of environmental safeguards covering power, cooling, fire protection, equipment protection, and physical infrastructure resilience.
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Information-security considerations within business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, backup, and restoration arrangements.
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Testing continuity controls, recovery evidence, resilience exercises, dependencies, recovery objectives, and lessons learned from disruption scenarios.
Module 9: Supplier, Outsourcing and Cloud Security Assurance
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Auditing information security requirements within supplier selection, due diligence, contracts, service agreements, and third-party governance.
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Evaluation of supplier security controls, performance monitoring, assurance reports, subcontractor risks, incident notification, and remediation processes.
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Cloud security auditing covering shared responsibilities, access management, encryption, configuration, monitoring, data protection, and resilience.
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Assessing information-security risks associated with outsourced services, remote providers, technology platforms, managed services, and digital ecosystems.
Module 10: Information Security Incident Management Auditing
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Incident management governance, reporting channels, classification, escalation, response responsibilities, communication, and management oversight.
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Audit evaluation of incident detection, response, containment, recovery, evidence preservation, documentation, and post-incident review.
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Testing incident records, response procedures, escalation arrangements, lessons learned, corrective actions, and recurring incident trends.
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Assessing organisational readiness for ransomware, data breaches, unauthorised access, service disruption, insider threats, and other security incidents.
Module 11: Cryptography, Data Protection and Secure Information Handling
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Audit assessment of cryptographic policies, encryption requirements, key management, secure communications, and protection of sensitive information.
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Evaluation of data protection controls covering confidentiality, integrity, retention, transfer, storage, disposal, and secure processing.
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Assessing secure information exchange, removable media, mobile devices, collaboration platforms, messaging systems, and external data transfers.
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Testing whether cryptographic and information-protection controls remain appropriate for identified risks, regulatory requirements, and technology environments.
Module 12: ISMS Performance Evaluation, Monitoring and Measurement
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Information security performance indicators, metrics, control monitoring, measurement criteria, dashboards, and management reporting.
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Evaluating the effectiveness of monitoring processes, control testing, security objectives, performance targets, and risk indicators.
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Internal audit coordination, management review inputs, security performance trends, corrective actions, and continual improvement evidence.
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Using analytical techniques to identify recurring control failures, emerging risks, performance gaps, and opportunities for strengthening the ISMS.
Module 13: Audit Evidence, Nonconformities and Corrective Action
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Principles of sufficient, appropriate, reliable, relevant, traceable, and objective evidence for information security management-system audits.
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Evidence collection through document review, interviews, observation, inspection, sampling, reperformance, system records, and technical audit procedures.
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Identification and classification of nonconformities, control weaknesses, observations, risks, root causes, and improvement opportunities.
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Corrective action planning, root cause analysis, action ownership, target dates, effectiveness verification, and follow-up assurance procedures.
Module 14: ISMS Audit Reporting, Communication and Management Review
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Developing clear and objective audit findings that connect evidence, criteria, conditions, risks, causes, impacts, and management responses.
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Preparing ISMS audit reports that communicate scope, methodology, evidence, conclusions, nonconformities, observations, and improvement opportunities.
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Presenting technical information-security issues in business language appropriate for executives, management teams, audit committees, and process owners.
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Supporting management review through meaningful assurance information, security performance trends, risk developments, audit results, and corrective action status.
Module 15: Emerging ISMS Risks and Advanced Assurance Techniques
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Auditing information security implications of artificial intelligence, generative AI, automation, machine learning, and algorithm-enabled business processes.
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Assessing emerging risks associated with remote work, cloud-native environments, Internet of Things devices, APIs, digital platforms, and interconnected ecosystems.
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Advanced assurance approaches including continuous auditing, automated control testing, data analytics, security dashboards, and technology-enabled evidence collection.
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Integrating emerging cyber threats, technology transformation, supply-chain risks, privacy developments, and resilience requirements into ISMS audit strategies.
Module 16: Continual Improvement and Advanced ISMS Audit Strategy
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Evaluating continual improvement mechanisms, lessons learned, corrective actions, management reviews, audit results, and changing information-security risks.
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Developing risk-based multi-year ISMS audit strategies that provide appropriate assurance across governance, controls, technology, suppliers, and business processes.
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Integrating internal audit, compliance, cybersecurity, risk management, privacy, business continuity, and other assurance activities to improve coverage.
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Building future-ready ISMS assurance capabilities through stronger governance, continuous monitoring, emerging-risk assessment, technology adoption, and stakeholder engagement.
Training Approach
This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.
Tailor-Made Course
This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808
Training Venue
The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.
Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant
Certification
Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.
Airport Pickup and Accommodation
Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808
Terms of Payment:
Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.
