What is Information Security Review?

Definition

Information Security Review is a structured evaluation of how an organization protects financial, operational, customer, employee, and vendor information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or loss. It examines security controls, access rights, data handling practices, system configurations, monitoring processes, and governance procedures to determine whether information protection aligns with business requirements and applicable policies.

An effective review connects technology controls with finance processes. It can examine accounting systems, ERP platforms, procurement applications, vendor records, reporting environments, and integrations that process sensitive financial information. Understanding Information Security provides the broader foundation for evaluating confidentiality, integrity, and availability across these workflows.

Table of Contents

How an Information Security Review Works

The review typically begins by defining the systems, information assets, business processes, users, and third parties within scope. Reviewers then assess existing controls against organizational policies, regulatory expectations, contractual requirements, and recognized security practices.

Evidence can include access-control configurations, authentication settings, audit logs, data-flow documentation, security policies, incident records, backup procedures, vendor documentation, and system change records. Findings are then categorized according to their business impact, affected processes, control significance, and remediation priority.

  • Scope assessment: Identify applications, data repositories, integrations, users, and business processes under review.
  • Control evaluation: Examine identity management, authorization, encryption, monitoring, retention, backup, and change controls.
  • Evidence review: Validate whether documented controls operate consistently and produce appropriate evidence.
  • Findings analysis: Connect identified control gaps with financial reporting, operational, compliance, and business impacts.

Key Areas Reviewed

For finance functions, an Information Security Review should pay particular attention to systems that store payment details, supplier information, bank data, financial statements, tax records, and accounting entries. Segregation of duties is especially important where the same user could otherwise initiate, approve, and record financially significant transactions.

Access reviews should consider both human and system accounts, including privileged users, service accounts, third-party connections, and inactive identities. Data protection should cover information while it is stored, transmitted, processed, and exchanged between applications. Logging should provide sufficient evidence to reconstruct important activities and support management review.

Vendor workflows also deserve focused attention. A controlled Vendor Information Upload process can provide vendors with a secure channel for submitting information and documents while supporting structured validation and consistent data capture. Similarly, Audit Trails can document vendor-management actions performed by humans or AI, creating evidence for transparency and review.

Information Security Review and Risk Management

The review works alongside an Information Security Risk Assessment by translating identified information-security risks into control-focused evaluation. The assessment generally considers the likelihood and potential impact of security events, while the review examines whether the corresponding safeguards are appropriately designed and operating.

For sensitive financial records, reviewers should also consider how information moves across ERP systems, cloud applications, data warehouses, APIs, and external service providers. A Confidential Information Review can complement this work by examining how sensitive business information is identified, handled, shared, stored, and protected within finance and operational workflows.

ERP and Procurement Considerations

ERP security reviews should examine role design, privileged access, integration accounts, configuration changes, interfaces, reporting permissions, and data exchanged with surrounding applications. Teams extending or integrating finance workflows around an ERP can use ERP Security Best Practices for Finance Teams (2026) as a practical reference when evaluating cloud, hybrid, and integrated environments.

Procure-to-pay processes require similar attention because requisitions, approvals, supplier records, purchase orders, and payment information can cross multiple systems and user roles. Controls should verify that a purchase requisition follows appropriate approval rules and that a purchase order cannot bypass established authorization or procurement controls. Strong procurement governance also supports clear accountability, spend visibility, and appropriate separation of responsibilities.

Business Value and Best Practices

A well-designed Information Security Review gives finance and business leaders a clearer view of whether security controls support reliable financial operations. It can strengthen access governance, improve audit readiness, support regulatory compliance, protect sensitive information, and provide evidence for management decisions.

  • Define ownership: Assign accountable owners to systems, information assets, and security controls.
  • Review access regularly: Revalidate privileged, financial, vendor, and third-party access according to business requirements.
  • Maintain evidence: Preserve relevant logs, approvals, configuration records, and review results for traceability.
  • Prioritize remediation: Address findings according to financial impact, data sensitivity, operational importance, and regulatory relevance.
  • Coordinate security and finance: Align technology controls with financial reporting, payment, procurement, and vendor-management requirements.

Summary

Information Security Review provides a systematic way to evaluate whether information-security controls adequately protect business and financial information. By reviewing access, data handling, system configurations, monitoring, vendor interactions, ERP integrations, and procurement workflows, organizations can strengthen governance and support dependable financial performance.