IT Audit Services for Financial Institutions
An IT audit is a necessity for financial institutions committed to safeguarding their data, ensuring regulatory compliance, and maintaining operational resilience. Despite the critical importance of an IT audit, they are rarely offered by traditional accounting firms due to the specialized expertise and technical infrastructure required to conduct them effectively. That’s where Whitley Penn stands out. With deep experience in both financial systems and cybersecurity, we can provide you with a comprehensive IT audit tailored to your needs, helping you identify vulnerabilities, optimize systems, build trust with your stakeholders, and invest in the future of your company.
HOW WE CAN SERVE YOU
Your IT Audit, Our Experience
Select a service below to learn more.
Information Technology General Controls (ITGC) Testing
As part of our enterprise-wide IT audit, we will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your bank’s Information Technology General Controls (ITGCs). Our methodology is grounded in the guidance provided by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) IT Examination Handbooks, and incorporates relevant requirements under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).
Leveraging our deep industry expertise and proven methodologies, we will evaluate the design and operating effectiveness of ITGCs across key domains, including but not limited to:
- Access Controls – User access provisioning, de-provisioning, and privileged access management.
- Change Management – Controls over system development, change approvals, and migration processes.
- IT Operations – Backup and recovery procedures, job scheduling, and incident management.
- Logical and Physical Security – Protection of systems and data from unauthorized access.
- Governance and Oversight – IT risk management, policies, and alignment with regulatory expectations.
Our procedures will be tailored to your bank’s specific IT environment and risk profile, and will align with the scope areas defined by management. We will also assess your bank’s compliance posture with GLBA requirements related to safeguarding customer information and ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical systems.
The results of our ITGC testing will provide valuable insights into the strength of your bank’s control environment and support your overall regulatory compliance objectives.
Vulnerability Scan and Enumeration
As part of your IT audit, we will test internal and external facing systems, network devices, and applications for known vulnerabilities. These scans may be performed utilizing a combination of vulnerability scanning tools, including Nmap and Tenable. Testing may be executed from various tools, using public and private tester knowledge, common attack vectors, and application-level scanning. Vulnerabilities found or suspected of existing are reported based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System to determine the overall risk of vulnerabilities and exposure.
Penetration Testing
We pride ourselves on our comprehensive and seamless approach to penetration testing. This is an important part of the IT Audit process. Our services and procedures include:
External penetration testing
During external penetration testing, our team takes on the perspective of an outside attacker to find and exploit known or unknown security vulnerabilities as an actual hacker would.
Internal penetration testing
During our internal penetration test, we make sure there are no vulnerabilities in systems that are accessible through authorized network connections (login IDs) within your company’s network domain. We also examine internal IT systems for any weaknesses that could be used to disrupt the confidentiality, availability, or integrity of the network.
Phishing test
Our primary objective of the phishing test is to evaluate the effectiveness of current cybersecurity training programs by measuring how many employees are susceptible to a simulated phishing email by having direct employees of the organization tested.
Our penetration testing approach
Whitley Penn adheres to a well-defined methodology for penetration testing. This series of tests will effectively analyze your system from top to bottom. We will seamlessly perform all tests so your normal workflow is not disrupted.
The penetration testing assessment consists of the following stages:
- Confirmation of scoping
- Information gathering
- Vulnerability identification
- Phishing assessment
- Exploitation and validation
- Penetration testing reporting
Risk Advisory Services
Our dedicated Risk Advisory Services (RAS) practice provides internal audit, process consulting, Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX), regulatory compliance, information technology, and Service Organization Controls (SOC) reporting solutions for clients spanning multiple industries and markets. Our team consists of dedicated advisory professionals who have a significant amount of experience handling complex projects. They have a true understanding of financial, business, and information technology risks that allows them to quickly and accurately assess the situation at hand and determine the best solution.
HOW WE CAN SERVE YOU
Your IT Audit, Our Experience
Information Technology General Controls (ITGC) Testing
As part of our enterprise-wide IT audit, we will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your bank’s Information Technology General Controls (ITGCs). Our methodology is grounded in the guidance provided by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) IT Examination Handbooks, and incorporates relevant requirements under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA).
Leveraging our deep industry expertise and proven methodologies, we will evaluate the design and operating effectiveness of ITGCs across key domains, including but not limited to:
- Access Controls – User access provisioning, de-provisioning, and privileged access management.
- Change Management – Controls over system development, change approvals, and migration processes.
- IT Operations – Backup and recovery procedures, job scheduling, and incident management.
- Logical and Physical Security – Protection of systems and data from unauthorized access.
- Governance and Oversight – IT risk management, policies, and alignment with regulatory expectations.
Our procedures will be tailored to your bank’s specific IT environment and risk profile, and will align with the scope areas defined by management. We will also assess your bank’s compliance posture with GLBA requirements related to safeguarding customer information and ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical systems.
The results of our ITGC testing will provide valuable insights into the strength of your bank’s control environment and support your overall regulatory compliance objectives.
Vulnerability Scan and Enumeration
As part of your IT audit, we will test internal and external facing systems, network devices, and applications for known vulnerabilities. These scans may be performed utilizing a combination of vulnerability scanning tools, including Nmap and Tenable. Testing may be executed from various tools, using public and private tester knowledge, common attack vectors, and application-level scanning. Vulnerabilities found or suspected of existing are reported based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System to determine the overall risk of vulnerabilities and exposure.
Penetration Testing
We pride ourselves on our comprehensive and seamless approach to penetration testing. This is an important part of the IT Audit process. Our services and procedures include:
External penetration testing
During external penetration testing, our team takes on the perspective of an outside attacker to find and exploit known or unknown security vulnerabilities as an actual hacker would.
Internal penetration testing
During our internal penetration test, we make sure there are no vulnerabilities in systems that are accessible through authorized network connections (login IDs) within your company’s network domain. We also examine internal IT systems for any weaknesses that could be used to disrupt the confidentiality, availability, or integrity of the network.
Phishing test
Our primary objective of the phishing test is to evaluate the effectiveness of current cybersecurity training programs by measuring how many employees are susceptible to a simulated phishing email by having direct employees of the organization tested.
Our penetration testing approach
Whitley Penn adheres to a well-defined methodology for penetration testing. This series of tests will effectively analyze your system from top to bottom. We will seamlessly perform all tests so your normal workflow is not disrupted.
The penetration testing assessment consists of the following stages:
- Confirmation of scoping
- Information gathering
- Vulnerability identification
- Phishing assessment
- Exploitation and validation
- Penetration testing reporting
Risk Advisory Services
Our dedicated Risk Advisory Services (RAS) practice provides internal audit, process consulting, Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX), regulatory compliance, information technology, and Service Organization Controls (SOC) reporting solutions for clients spanning multiple industries and markets. Our team consists of dedicated advisory professionals who have a significant amount of experience handling complex projects. They have a true understanding of financial, business, and information technology risks that allows them to quickly and accurately assess the situation at hand and determine the best solution.
Why Entrust Whitley Penn with Your IT Audit?
Our team has more than 150 years of combined experience serving financial institutions both public and private.
We have served companies ranging in size from de novo institutions to multibillion dollar institutions. These include commercial banks, bank holding companies, mortgage companies, and credit unions. We currently serve approximately 80 financial institutions providing a range of services including audit, tax, outsourced internal audit, independent loan reviews, compliance, and IT audit and penetration testing.
Why Entrust Whitley Penn with Your IT Audit?
Our team has more than 150 years of combined experience serving financial institutions both public and private.
We have served companies ranging in size from de novo institutions to multibillion dollar institutions. These include commercial banks, bank holding companies, mortgage companies, and credit unions. We currently serve approximately 80 financial institutions providing a range of services including audit, tax, outsourced internal audit, independent loan reviews, compliance, and IT audit and penetration testing.
