Security Audit Template - Free Download & Example

A security audit is a systematic evaluation of the security of your application, infrastructure and processes. In an era where cyber attacks become increasingly sophisticated and data breaches cost organisations millions in fines, reputational damage and recovery costs, regular auditing is not a luxury but a necessity. This template provides a structured framework for conducting a security audit covering all critical areas: application security (OWASP Top 10 controls, input validation, output encoding, session security), infrastructure security (network configuration, firewall rules, patch management, encryption), authentication and authorisation (password policy, multi-factor authentication, role-based access control), data security (encryption in transit and at rest, backup strategy, data classification), third-party risk evaluation (dependencies, SaaS integrations, data processing agreements), compliance controls (GDPR, NIS2, ISO 27001) and operational security (logging, monitoring, incident response readiness). Each control has a clear status (pass, fail, not applicable), a risk level and space for findings and recommendations. The result is a prioritised list of remediation items that measurably improve your security. The template is built according to current 2026 best practices and accounts for the NIS2 directive that since 2024 imposes additional security requirements on organisations in essential sectors. By linking audit results to concrete CVSS scores you can objectively substantiate the severity of each finding to management and regulatory bodies. The template also works as a foundation for periodic security audits conducted quarterly or semi-annually to verify that security measures remain effective and that new functionality has not introduced vulnerabilities.

Variations

How to use

Step 1: Download the security audit template and define the audit scope: which applications, APIs, infrastructure components and processes fall within the audit? Document what is deliberately out of scope and why. A clear scope prevents scope creep and keeps the audit manageable. Step 2: Assemble the audit team. An effective security audit requires a combination of security expertise, knowledge of the application architecture and understanding of the business context. Consider engaging external auditors for an unbiased perspective, especially if the team has never performed a formal audit before. Step 3: Walk through the application security checklist based on the OWASP Top 10. Test per vulnerability type: is the application vulnerable to SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, insecure direct object references and other common attack vectors? Document per test the methodology, result and evidence. Step 4: Evaluate infrastructure security: are all servers and services patched to date, are unnecessary ports and services closed, is network segmentation correctly configured, are secrets securely managed via a vault solution and has the backup strategy been tested? Step 5: Check the authentication and authorisation system: are passwords securely hashed (bcrypt, argon2), is multi-factor authentication available and active for administrator accounts, is session security correctly configured (secure cookies, httpOnly, SameSite) and does authorisation work correctly for all roles and permissions? Step 6: Assess data security: is sensitive data encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest, is data classification up to date, are retention periods adhered to and have backups been tested for recoverability? Step 7: Evaluate third-party risks: have all dependencies been checked for known vulnerabilities, are data processing agreements current and complete, and have SaaS integrations been assessed for their security level? Step 8: Document all findings with a clear risk level (critical, high, medium, low, informational), a description of the vulnerability, the potential exploitation scenario and a concrete remediation recommendation. Prioritise findings based on risk and create an action plan with deadlines. Step 9: Perform a retest after remediation measures have been implemented to verify vulnerabilities are actually resolved and that fixes have not introduced new security issues. Document the retest results as evidence of adequate mitigation. Step 10: Integrate lessons from the audit into your secure coding guidelines and developer training, so similar vulnerabilities are prevented in future code rather than detected after the fact. Add the most common findings to your code review checklist as permanent attention points. Step 11: Include a section for testing social engineering resilience. Describe how you plan and execute phishing simulations and other social engineering tests to verify that employees recognise suspicious requests and handle them correctly. Step 12: Document the patch management policy as part of the audit. Describe how quickly critical security patches are applied after publication, who is responsible for monitoring CVE databases and how the status of outstanding patches is reported.

How MG Software can help

MG Software performs security audits as part of our development practice. Our security specialists have experience with OWASP-based penetration testing, cloud security reviews and compliance assessments. We help you not only identify vulnerabilities but also structurally resolve them by integrating security into your development workflow via secure coding guidelines, automated security scanning in CI/CD and periodic audit cycles. Concretely this means we configure Semgrep or SonarQube in your pipeline so every pull request is automatically scanned for known vulnerability patterns. We also establish a dependency update policy with tooling like Dependabot or Renovate that automatically detects vulnerable packages and generates update proposals. For teams with no prior security audit experience we offer a hands-on workshop where we walk through the OWASP Top 10 with practical examples from your own codebase, so the team learns to independently recognise and prevent security issues. After every audit we deliver a prioritised action plan with concrete remediation instructions your developers can implement directly.