Certified Information Systems Auditor Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Guide to Master Your CISA Certification!

The main purpose of an audit in information systems is to assess compliance with established controls. This focus on compliance is essential, as audits are designed to evaluate whether the controls in place are adequate and functioning as intended to protect information assets. By assessing compliance, auditors can determine if the organization adheres to policies, standards, regulations, and best practices critical for safeguarding data integrity, confidentiality, and availability.

While eliminating all risks might be an aspirational goal for many organizations, it is unrealistic to expect that any audit can remove every potential risk. Similarly, ensuring maximum speed of operations is more of an operational efficiency goal and does not reflect the primary aim of an audit, which is evaluative rather than prescriptive in nature. Providing real-time monitoring involves ongoing surveillance and control mechanisms; however, audits generally occur periodically and focus on reviewing historical data and compliance rather than providing continuous oversight.

Thus, the assessment of compliance helps organizations identify weaknesses, gaps, or areas for improvement in their information system controls and ensures they align with legal and regulatory requirements.