Governance & Risk Management
Board and management oversight, IT strategy, risk assessments, policies, accountability, staffing, metrics, issue escalation, and alignment between technology risk and enterprise risk.
Financial Institution IT Auditing
FFIEC-aligned IT general controls audits built around institutional risk.
TruSec evaluates whether technology governance, security, operations, change management, resilience, and third-party oversight controls are appropriately designed and operating effectively for the institution’s environment.
Service Overview
Independent control testing aligned with applicable FFIEC guidance.
An effective IT general controls audit should reflect the institution’s actual risk profile—not a generic checklist.
TruSec performs risk-based audits for banks, credit unions, financial services organizations, and technology service providers. Procedures are selected from applicable FFIEC IT Examination Handbook principles and examination objectives, then tailored to the institution’s size, complexity, delivery channels, critical systems, outsourced relationships, and regulatory environment.
The audit evaluates both control design and available evidence that controls are operating as intended. Results are written for executive management, audit committees, risk personnel, and technical teams, with clear separation between significant control weaknesses and lower-priority improvement opportunities.
Common reasons for an engagement
- Annual internal audit or risk-based audit plan coverage
- Preparation for an upcoming regulatory examination
- Independent review requested by the board or audit committee
- Validation following major technology or service-provider changes
- Follow-up testing of prior audit or examination findings
Audit Coverage
Core IT controls evaluated across governance, operations, and resilience.
Final procedures are selected according to the approved scope, risk profile, prior findings, technology environment, and applicable FFIEC handbook topics.
Information Security & Access
User lifecycle controls, privileged access, authentication, segregation of duties, security administration, vulnerability management, monitoring, incident response, and assurance activities.
Architecture, Infrastructure & Operations
Asset management, secure configuration, network and system administration, patching, capacity, job processing, backups, logging, physical and environmental controls, and operational resilience.
Change & System Lifecycle
Development, acquisition, maintenance, change authorization, testing, migration, emergency changes, version control, secure implementation, vendor solutions, and post-implementation review.
Business Continuity & Resilience
Business impact analysis, recovery strategies, continuity plans, backup recoverability, exercises, crisis communications, dependency management, lessons learned, maintenance, and board reporting.
Audit & Third-Party Oversight
Audit independence and coverage, risk-based planning, issue tracking, vendor due diligence, contracts, assurance reports, performance monitoring, concentration risk, incident obligations, and termination planning.
How the Engagement Works
Evidence-based testing with a clear audit trail.
Define the audit universe
Confirm objectives, applicable entities, systems, locations, service providers, prior issues, risk areas, audit period, and reporting expectations.
Map controls and evidence
Develop procedures aligned with relevant FFIEC topics and issue a focused evidence request rather than collecting documents without purpose.
Test design and operation
Interview control owners, inspect documentation, select samples, validate evidence, identify exceptions, and evaluate available compensating controls.
Report and validate
Discuss factual accuracy, issue the audit report, prioritize corrective actions, and perform follow-up validation when included.
Deliverables
Clear reporting for executives, auditors, regulators, and control owners.
The report explains what was tested, the evidence reviewed, identified exceptions, risk implications, and practical corrective actions.
FFIEC IT HandbookRisk-Based AuditingIT GovernanceInformation SecurityOperationsResilience
- Executive summary and overall control posture
- Scope, audit period, methodology, and limitations
- FFIEC-aligned audit procedures and control matrix
- Evidence-based findings and control exceptions
- Risk ratings and affected processes or systems
- Prioritized remediation recommendations
- Management response and target dates when provided
- Remediation-validation results when included
This service is an independent audit or readiness assessment. It is not performed on behalf of the FFIEC or any banking regulator, does not constitute regulatory approval or certification, and does not guarantee the outcome of a future examination.
Common Questions
FFIEC IT general controls audit questions
What is an FFIEC-aligned IT general controls audit?
It is an independent evaluation of foundational technology controls using applicable principles and examination procedures from the FFIEC IT Examination Handbook. The scope is tailored to the institution’s risk profile, technology environment, outsourced services, and audit objectives.
Is this the same as an FFIEC regulatory examination?
No. TruSec does not act on behalf of the FFIEC or a banking regulator. The engagement is an independent audit or readiness assessment designed to identify control gaps, improve examination preparedness, and support the institution’s internal audit and risk-management processes.
Which FFIEC IT Examination Handbook booklets may be used?
Depending on scope, the audit may draw from the Audit, Management, Information Security, Architecture, Infrastructure and Operations, Development, Acquisition and Maintenance, Business Continuity Management, and Outsourcing Technology Services booklets, together with other applicable regulatory or institutional requirements.
What evidence is typically requested?
Evidence may include policies, risk assessments, board or committee reporting, user-access records, privileged-access reviews, change tickets, system inventories, vulnerability and patch records, backup and recovery evidence, incident documentation, vendor due-diligence files, contracts, service reports, and samples supporting control operation.
Can outsourced systems and managed service providers be included?
Yes. The audit can evaluate governance and oversight of cloud providers, core processors, managed service providers, managed security providers, and other technology vendors, including due diligence, contracts, service-level expectations, assurance reports, monitoring, issue management, and exit considerations.
Does the audit include penetration testing or vulnerability testing?
Technical testing can be added when required, but an IT general controls audit is not automatically a penetration test. The audit primarily evaluates control design and operating effectiveness through inquiry, documentation review, observation, and evidence sampling. Penetration testing and vulnerability assessment can be scoped as separate or complementary workstreams.
How are findings rated and reported?
Findings are evaluated based on control purpose, risk exposure, evidence, likelihood, business impact, regulatory relevance, and available compensating controls. Reports distinguish material control gaps from improvement opportunities and provide prioritized, practical remediation recommendations.
Can TruSec validate remediation after the audit?
Yes. Follow-up validation can review corrective-action evidence, retest selected controls, update finding status, and document whether the original issue has been adequately addressed within the agreed scope.
Related Services
Combine governance review with targeted technical validation.
Planning an FFIEC-aligned IT controls audit?
Share the institution type, audit objectives, critical systems, outsourced providers, prior findings, requested audit period, and target reporting date.