Audit

As explained in Think Like a CTO

An audit is a systematic examination of records, controls, or activities to verify compliance, accountability, or correctness.

An audit systematically examines records, controls, or activities to verify correctness, accountability, or compliance. In enterprise technology, it depends on knowing what data exists, who may use it, how long it is retained, and what system activity is recorded. section 8.5.2 section 12.6.3

Build an audit-ready operating picture by asking:

• Who owns each data category, and are you an owner or merely a steward? section 8.5.2
• How long should operational stores and backups retain the data, and what triggers deletion or migration? section 8.5.2
• Who can see the data, internally or externally, and which encryption or access-list restrictions apply? section 8.5.2
• Which logs reveal system faults, performance issues, coordinated attacks, and suspicious account activity? section 8.5.2 section 12.6.3

A small but useful audit signal

Record successful and failed login attempts. A late-night use of an employee account or an attempted access to a recently closed account can expose activity that warrants investigation. The appropriate detail depends on the organization and the data it stewards. section 12.6.3

Figure 8.4 Data type framework

Use the data type framework to organize audit questions across sensitive, transactional, business-intelligence, and log data. section 8.5.2

How Think Like a CTO covers it

How deep it goes

Connects auditing to ownership, retention, visibility, and continuous log review, but stops short of a detailed audit methodology.

Examples

Uses data categories, forensic logs, aggregated dashboards, and successful or failed login records as audit evidence.

What it assumes

Assumes organizational data and operating systems exist, while teaching ownership, retention, visibility, and logging questions.

What you can do after

Diagnose suspicious activity and support accountability by defining data rules and continually reviewing system and login logs.

How it connects

Links data classification, data retention, access control, logging, and security monitoring.

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Also explained in

• 

  liveBookmanning.com
  Effective Data AnalysisAn audit is a systematic examination of a system, process, or output against defined requirements or evaluation criteria.
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  Architecting an Apache Iceberg LakehouseAuditing is the systematic examination and recording of data and system activities to support accountability, compliance, and operational assurance.
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  MongoDB 8.0 in Action, Third EditionAuditing is the recording and review of security-relevant database activity for accountability and compliance.
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  liveBookmanning.com
  100 SQL Server Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemAuditing is the systematic recording and review of security-relevant actions and events for accountability and investigation.

Compare how 5 books explain audit →

Related concepts

• data integrityaddresses · Data integrity is the property that data remains accurate, complete, consistent, and valid, with changes made only through authorized actions.
• bias detectionhas part · Bias detection is the systematic assessment of data, decisions, or system behavior to identify distortions or unjustified disparities across groups or conditions.
• monitoringuses · Monitoring is the ongoing observation and measurement of a system’s behavior, state, or operational signals to assess its condition and detect changes or problems.
• alertingproduces · Alerting is the generation and delivery of notifications when monitored conditions or events meet defined criteria or require attention or action.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Think Like a CTO. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.