Best Cybersecurity Audit Companies

Businesses have big liabilities when it comes to cyberattacks: In 2023, compromised business emails alone cost enterprises around $2.9 billion. That means business leaders have to think about having a good security posture. It’s not a nice-to-have… it’s a must-have.

But what about ensuring a cybersecurity consulting firm has the right approach to evaluating systems, reporting, using the right tools, and coming up with the right audit results? If it’s not done well, it could be even worse for the business, lulling everyone into a false sense of security. The right audit, though, will bring the insights and discovery that helps a company to be confident, even in this volatile era.

 Top 10 Cybersecurity Audit Companies

1. Atlant
2. Fortinet
3. Arctic Wolf
4. Cisco
5. Bitdefender
6. Palo Alto Networks
7. Tenable
8. Sophos
9. Astra
10. Symantec

 

Cybersecurity Audit Companies: What to Look For

Experience, Expertise and Credentials

When looking for the right cybersecurity consulting service, look for auditors with the right credentials. They should be experienced in your industry, with certifications like CISSP and CISA. They should also have an in-depth understanding of applicable privacy rules, like HIPAA or PCI.

Industry	Regulation Name	Year Implemented	Key Focus Areas	Region/Country
Healthcare	Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)	1996	Patient data protection, consent, and security	United States
Finance	General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)	2018	Data privacy, individual rights, and data breach notification	European Union
Technology	California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)	2020	Consumer rights, data transparency, and opt-out options	United States

Beyond that, an auditor has to really know how to conduct one of these audits well, in order to catch vulnerabilities and assess systems in detail. In other words, they have to be thorough. They also have to have access to the right tools and methodologies, and be committed to bringing value to the process. Otherwise, everyone might just be going through the motions.

Tools and Platforms

Many of the best auditors will have their own proprietary tools and platforms that address a lot of the needs of an audit. They might have their own tools for penetration testing, and specific features for figuring out possible threat vectors and security posture, and security assessment engines, just to name a few of the innovations that they can bring to the table.

In figuring out whether a firm is the right fit, the potential client can check out all of the features of the proprietary platform, and see how it works. Asking questions at this juncture helps to determine how capable the vendor is in doing the audit and providing the right advice.

Range of Services

This kind of goes along with the last point, in that the cybersecurity consultant should be able to provide all of the key services needed in an audit situation. That includes risk assessment, incident response plans, strategy, testing, and compliance management, as well as things like the mapping of tools and systems to criteria in an SOC audit scenario.

Cybersecurity Service	Description
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)	Provides continuous threat monitoring, detection, and response to cybersecurity incidents by expert teams.
Penetration Testing	Simulates cyberattacks to identify vulnerabilities and assess the effectiveness of security defenses.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)	Aggregates and analyzes activity from various sources to identify potential security threats.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)	Ensures the right individuals have appropriate access to critical data, applications, and systems.
Incident Response	Provides swift and effective responses to security breaches, helping to mitigate damage and recover quickly.
Cloud Security Services	Protects cloud-based data, applications, and infrastructure from cyber threats.

Customizable Support

Much of what a client needs from a cybersecurity auditor has to do with the size and scope of the business. How do laws like GDP and HIPAA apply? What types of systems and workflows need to be analyzed the most in order to spot any vulnerabilities?

The auditor has to be a good detective in helping the client to find improvements that will eliminate fines, loss of reputation and everything else attached to a cyberattack or data breach.

 Top 10 Cybersecurity Audit Companies

Atlant Security

Key Features:

• AWS and Azure consulting services: Fully evaluate a company’s position with regard to these top vendors
• Cybersecurity maturity assessment: one-year, 3-stage process for comprehensive assessment and recommendations
• IT and Cybersecurity Audit Services: Specialized inspection of company systems according to NIST 800 v53/ISO 27001 / SOC2 or CMMC requirements. 

Serving clients on five continents, Atlant Security offers a full range of audits, assessments, and consulting services to catch vulnerabilities, harden systems, and protect data. Companies that need to improve their security posture can benefit from discovering key risks, building implementation plans, and proving compliance with consultation on SOC1 or SOC2 audits or other processes.

Atlant can also provide part-time or fractional remote CISO services, which bring versatility to the client’s organization of personnel in fighting cybercrime and protecting systems. This sort of on-demand planning helps businesses to grow and scale, safely.

Fortinet

Key Features:

• Fortinet SASE: combines SD-WAN structure with FortiSASE cloud-delivered security service edge
• Zero trust network access: Contemplates device posture and more as part of Fortinet’s security fabric for handling remote work scenarios and other situations
• Cloud firewall: Cloud-native firewall delivered as a service
• Web application security: Helpful defense bots, API evaluation, and more

Fortinet’s platform is something the company describes as a “complete security fabric” with applications to every part of the network. Firewalls, network access control tools, endpoint protection systems and conduits are scrutinized for signs of weakness, with AI-powered threat intelligence looking beyond the perimeter.

The goal is unified management: through the company’s FortiManager system, clients can use a comprehensive command center environment to look out for all of the threats that they face.

Arctic Wolf

Key Features:

• Incident Response JumpStart Retainer (IRJS) teams: the company provides a one-hour response to threats, to limit dwell time and boost the resiliency of a client response
• Managed services for security: get a series of provisions for arranging the kinds of projects that illustrate network security best practices
• Arctic Wolf Security Operations Warranty: this offer provides up to $1,500,000 in financial assistance in incident mitigation 

This company’s security operations cloud platform does the detective work needed to secure systems from the endpoint to the cloud, and elsewhere. Real time monitoring helps with risk management, and human teams help to provide quick responses limiting the dwell time of a cyberattack.

Cisco

Key Features:

• Life Cycle cybersecurity planning assistance – get help from recognized professionals affiliated with one of the biggest names in tech.
• Talos incident response system: proprietary “threat hunter” tools are looking everywhere for signs of possible attacks, decreasing risk, limiting dwell time and reinforcing internal hardening of systems
• Zero trust analysis services: Bringing this approach to cybersecurity adds to the robustness of consulting recommendations and eventual implementations for clients

 

This company, which needs no introduction, also melds human support with automated systems that help fortify networks. As a premier technology provider, Cisco builds in zero trust strategy, and offers technical security assessment with the right kind of advice for strengthening security postures.

Bitdefender

Key Features:

• Managed detection and response: This set of services can help with developing controls for SOC and practical security posture improvements
• Offensive cybersecurity methods: penetration testing and more to assertively uncover threat vectors
• GravityZone Business Security Enterprise tools: provides 24/7 monitoring and assistance with threat identification

 

Bitdefender is a company that has been around for a while – offering a range of cybersecurity supports for enterprise, as well as consumer tools. Users can find a helpful trove of information on the web site – about types of common cybersecurity attacks, and glossaries covering some of the state of the art advances in protecting networks.

The Bitdefender platform also uses AI automation to fight threats, and adds firewall and VPN support for data privacy.

Palo Alto Networks

Key Features

• Prisma Code to Cloud Platform: Locks out threats to cloud gateways, sealing off some of the most common attack vectors
• 24/7 incident response: Get human assistance, with human in the loop monitoring, combined with the types of automation tools that will keep a network secure
• Industry and compliance validation with top tools

Strata Copilot and Cloud Manager help to provide a central control response for arranging systems in more hardened ways. The Precision AI platform promotes consistent security across an architecture, and adequate security for all endpoints, either local or remote.

Merging software and hardware solutions, promoting better SD-WAN engineering, and utilizing models and standards from places like Gartner, Palo Alto Networks is more than just a big brand name.

Tenable

Key Features:

Just-in-Time Cloud Access: micromanaging access to cloud services, decreasing various kinds of cloud-adjacent vulnerabilities

Actionable cloud security platform: cloud-native application protection platform helps to reduce cloud exposures, and check configurations, deploying a unified platform for better overall cloud management

Vulnerability management – uncover hidden risks and work with known and unknown assets, prioritizing vulnerabilities for response

Tenable’s value proposition contends that exposing risk is the first step to broader cybersecurity success. An ‘all-attack surface view’ helps clients to eliminate various kinds of multi-cloud risks and application vulnerabilities. Deep contextual intelligence monitors systems at a granular level, and AI-powered tools bring the insights that help prevent and manage incidents.

In addition, active directory tools also help seal off attack pads, and Tenable offers various compliance solutions, including simplification of compliance objectives and streamlined documentation.

Sophos

Key Features:

Next-generation firewall designs – Sophos firewall consolidates network protection, and offers management of remote systems through one single command center

Zero trust network access – onboarding tools, access controls, and ransomware prevention methods are part of this service package

Endpoint detection and response systems: visibility and transparency of endpoint threats, and customized action plans add value

 

The Sophos collection of enterprise tools is designed to win out against cyberattackers, no matter their origin, or the threat vectors they use. Cloud firewall and endpoint systems provide comprehensive protection, and AI-based risk identification tools boost the internal knowledge of the company’s teams, enabling better responses.

Consolidated dashboards, third-party integrations, and AI insights add to the utility of this platform.

Astra

Key Features:

• Continuous penetration testing
• Web app, cloud, security, mobile app, and AI pen test
• Zero day vulnerability research
• Automated scanners
• Detailed executive reports and views

BB is the firm that considers itself top-tier for penetration testing and systems evaluation. Manual testing helps with standards compliance and teams are industry certified for efficacy. Scanners monitor CID integrations and look beyond the perimeter for emerging threats. Vulnerabilities are assigned to specific engineers and , active testing fixes security loopholes. Website protection and block chain testing are also part of the menu.

With a slate of big brands on board, BB has expert human support for companies, looking to secure and lockdown their systems against cyber attacks

BB is a household name in security and covers endpoint networks and the cloud.

With a comprehensive system for reducing a tax surface and preventing data breaches, BB has authentication control, storage protection, and much more.

Engineers, look for compliance across distributed environments. The company which also offers some consumer products has integrated solutions for general cyber security Achievements,

Transparent data protection – cloud apps and other tools show vulnerability,

Secure, web, and email – isolating Internet connected infrastructure helps clients to be more sophisticated in their security postures.

Audit Type	Purpose	Key Attributes	Common Focus Areas
Network Security Audit	Assess the security of network infrastructure	Evaluate firewalls, routers, switches, and other network devices	Access control, firewalls, VPNs, network segmentation
Compliance Audit	Ensure adherence to regulatory and industry standards	Focus on policies and procedures to meet legal requirements	GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX compliance
Vulnerability Assessment	Identify and rank security vulnerabilities in systems	Uses automated tools to scan for weaknesses in software/hardware	Patching, outdated software, system misconfigurations
Penetration Testing Audit	Simulate attacks to test the effectiveness of security	Ethical hacking to expose exploitable vulnerabilities	Internal/external network testing, web apps, databases
Risk Assessment Audit	Evaluate potential risks and their impact on the organization	Identifies threats, vulnerabilities, and control measures	Risk management, business impact analysis, mitigation plans

Cybersecurity Audit Best Practices

In choosing the best vendors, companies should know how these audits are conducted, and figure out how capable these third parties are of completing them in the right ways.

Here are some helpful tips.

One is to well define the scope of the project. Look at everything that the business has to handle from a legal and regulatory viewpoint. Consider all of the parts of the system that have to be evaluated. A cybersecurity audit needs to be comprehensive in order to be most effective. It needs to identify all of the stakeholders. What departments are participating? Who’s going to be in the loop as the auditor completes their work?

Tools are also a major part of the equation. Penetration testing is one aspect of this. This kind of systems testing is vital to making sure that vulnerabilities are spotted and solved. But it’s not just that; the company should also look at the vendor platforms and everything else that the vendor offers in order to improve security posture, because a lot of those proprietary tools are going to provide the most value in the audit process.

It’s also important to think about reporting. How well do companies do in showing the results of their labor in a cyber security audit? The reporting itself is going to be a big part of the ROI that demonstrates the value of this process for the client.

We all agree that cybersecurity audits are a necessity. We have to get serious about protecting networks and data.

in the above list, you can see a lot of the value propositions for the top companies that help clients to look into the future and manage risk. Improving security decreases liability, and enhances the company’s reputation for competence and excellence in its field.

Business leaders also get confidence at the end of the day, knowing that systems are secure and that they’re not leaving loopholes open for hackers to exploit.

FAQ

What is a cybersecurity audit for?

A cybersecurity audit helps companies to spot vulnerabilities and fix problems with their security systems. It helps improve the company’s reputation, and also enhances compliance with important laws and standards.

What is the scope of cybersecurity audit?

The cybersecurity audit should be comprehensive. It should cover every part of the system that’s relevant, and every type of control and tool that is used. The company should also look at how they utilize a human in the loop, or human oversight of automated systems.

How many people work on a cybersecurity audit?

While it’s possible to have just one auditor, many firms have multiple people collaborating on an audit project. In addition, the client company might have people involved, too, where both companies work together to provide the best result.