ITPEC FE Morning April 2019 Question 58

A general affairs member auditing general affairs' entrance and exit control — the auditor is examining his own department, so he is not independent of it.

Independence means the auditor has no organisational tie to, or stake in, the target of the audit. Otherwise the auditor may be judging his own or his colleagues' work, and the result cannot be trusted as impartial. Being formally appointed to the audit team and working with other members does not remove the conflict, so this assignment must be avoided.

Answer (c)

Why not others:

• •(a) — the auditor left the information systems department five years ago and now audits the marketing department, which he never belonged to; neither creates a conflict
• •(b) — an audit department member auditing an outside contractor has no tie to it; checking how contractors handle the company's personal information is a normal audit
• •(d) — the legal department member only supplies legal expertise at the audit department's request and is not auditing his own department; drawing on specialists is normal

Key rule: Test independence by asking whether the auditor belongs to, or is responsible for, the area being audited; expert help and a past post elsewhere do not break it.

System Audit · AI-written, may contain errors