CISA Task Statements

Domain 1: The Process of Auditing Information Systems Provide audit services in accordance with
IT audit standards to assist the organization with protecting and controlling information systems.
Task Statements
T1.1

Develop and implement a risk-based IT audit strategy in compliance with IT audit standards to
ensure that key areas are included.

T1.2

Plan specific audits to determine whether information systems are protected, controlled and
provide value to the organization.

T1.3

Conduct audits in accordance with IT audit standards to achieve planned audit objectives.

T1.4

Report audit findings and make recommendations to key stakeholders to communicate results
and effect change when necessary.

T1.5

Conduct follow-ups or prepare status reports to ensure that appropriate actions have been taken
by management in a timely manner.

Domain 2: Governance and Management of IT Provide assurance that the necessary leadership and
organizational structures and processes are in place to achieve objectives and to support the
organizations strategy.
Task Statements
T2.1

Evaluate the effectiveness of the IT governance structure to determine whether IT decisions,

T2.2

Evaluate IT organizational structure and human resources (personnel) management to determine

T2.3

Evaluate the IT strategy, including the IT direction, and the processes for the strategys
development, approval, implementation and maintenance for alignment with the organizations
strategies and objectives.

T2.4

Evaluate the organizations IT policies, standards, and procedures, and the processes for their
development, approval, implementation, maintenance, and monitoring, to determine whether they
support the IT strategy and comply with regulatory and legal requirements.

T2.5

Evaluate the adequacy of the quality management system to determine whether it supports the
organizations strategies and objectives in a cost-effective manner.

T2.6

Evaluate IT management and monitoring of controls (e.g., continuous monitoring, quality

T2.7

Evaluate IT resource investment, use and allocation practices, including prioritization criteria, for
alignment with the organizations strategies and objectives.

T2.8

Evaluate IT contracting strategies and policies, and contract management practices to determine
whether they support the organizations strategies and objectives.

T2.9

Evaluate risk management practices to determine whether the organizations IT-related risks are
properly managed.

T2.10

Evaluate monitoring and assurance practices to determine whether the board and executive
management receive sufficient and timely information about IT performance.

T2.11

Evaluate the organizations business continuity plan to determine the organizations ability to
continue essential business operations during the period of an IT disruption.

Domain 3: Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation Provide assurance

Evaluate the business case for proposed investments in information systems acquisition,
development, maintenance and subsequent retirement to determine whether it meets business
objectives.

T3.2

Evaluate the project management practices and controls to determine whether business
requirements are achieved in a cost-effective manner while managing risks to the organization.

T3.3

Conduct reviews to determine whether a project is progressing in accordance with project plans,
is adequately supported by documentation and status reporting is accurate.

T3.4

Evaluate controls for information systems during the requirements, acquisition, development and
testing phases for compliance with the organizations policies, standards, procedures and
applicable external requirements.

T3.5

Evaluate the readiness of information systems for implementation and migration into production
to determine whether project deliverables, controls and the organizations requirements are met.

T3.6

Conduct postimplementation reviews of systems to determine whether project deliverables,

Domain 4: Information Systems Operations, Maintenance and Support Provide assurance that the
processes for information systems operations, maintenance and support meet the organizations
strategies and objectives.
Task Statements
T4.1

Conduct periodic reviews of information systems to determine whether they continue to meet the
organizations objectives.

T4.2

Evaluate service level management practices to determine whether the level of service from
internal and external service providers is defined and managed.

T4.3

Evaluate third-party management practices to determine whether the levels of controls expected
by the organization are being adhered to by the provider.

T4.4

Evaluate operations and end-user procedures to determine whether scheduled and

T4.5

Evaluate the process of information systems maintenance to determine whether they are
controlled effectively and continue to support the organizations objectives.

T4.6

Evaluate data administration practices to determine the integrity and optimization of databases.

T4.7

Evaluate the use of capacity and performance monitoring tools and techniques to determine
whether IT services meet the organizations objectives.

T4.8

Evaluate problem and incident management practices to determine whether incidents, problems
or errors are recorded, analyzed and resolved in a timely manner.

T4.9

Evaluate change, configuration and release management practices to determine whether

T4.10

Evaluate the adequacy of backup and restore provisions to determine the availability of
information required to resume processing.

T4.11

Evaluate the organizations disaster recovery plan to determine whether it enables the recovery of
IT processing capabilities in the event of a disaster.

Domain 5: Protection of Information Assets Provide assurance that the organizations security
policies, standards, procedures and controls ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of
information assets.
Task Statements
T5.1

Evaluate the information security policies, standards and procedures for completeness and
alignment with generally accepted practices.

T5.2

Evaluate the design, implementation and monitoring of system and logical security controls to
verify the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.

T5.3

Evaluate the design, implementation and monitoring of the data classification processes and
procedures for alignment with the organizations policies, standards, procedures and applicable
external requirements.

T5.4

Evaluate the design, implementation and monitoring of physical access and environmental
controls to determine whether information assets are adequately safeguarded.

T5.5

Evaluate the processes and procedures used to store, retrieve, transport and dispose of
information assets (e.g., backup media, offsite storage, hard copy/print data and softcopy media)
to determine whether information assets are adequately safeguarded.