SOX file integrity monitoring
Catch the changes that skipped change control.
Change control stops unapproved changes. Auditors also look for a way to catch the ones that get through. Alertica checks the code, config and interface files behind your financial systems from outside your servers, alerts the control owner on every change, and keeps the note that matches each change to its ticket.
- Agentless, nothing to install
- A detective control for program changes
Who it's for
Public companies, and companies preparing to list, whose financial systems run partly on servers they manage.
Built for
- IT managers who own the IT general controls, and the internal auditors who test them
- ERP and finance systems with code, config and interface files on Linux or Unix servers
- Bank and GL interface files moved over SFTP
What Alertica covers in your ITGCs
SOX has no control numbers of its own, so the table follows the IT general control areas auditors test. Where an area needs more than a file monitor, the last column says what.
| ITGC area | What the auditor tests | What Alertica does | What you still do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program changes Detection | The population of production changes is complete, and each change was approved. | Alerts on every change to the files you watch, whichever account made it, so each one can be matched to a ticket. The note records the match. | Run the change process, and investigate what doesn't match. |
| Program changes Evidence | The population of changes in the period, with proof of review. | One download of every change alert in the period, as a PDF or a spreadsheet, with who reviewed it, when and the note. | Pull the tickets for the sample. |
| Computer operations Scheduled jobs | Scheduled jobs complete, and failures are followed up. | Alerts when an interface or extract file doesn't arrive, and records the follow-up. | Monitor the jobs themselves. |
What your auditor sees
The auditor asks for the population of changes in the period and samples from it. A change log that records only some accounts gives an incomplete population, and inspectors have flagged exactly that. Alertica compares the files themselves, so every change to a watched file is in it, whoever made it.
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Every change, matched to its ticket
Each alert is acknowledged with a name, a time and a required note. The note is where the change meets its ticket, and the reconciliation your auditor samples.
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Twelve months of history
Pro keeps a year of alerts and scans, which covers a fiscal year. Any date your auditor samples has its record.
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Proof it ran every week
Every Monday, a health email per rule: scans that ran, scans that failed, alerts, and what is still open. It shows the control operated through the whole year.
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The population in one download
Pick the fiscal year and download every change alert with who reviewed it, when and the note. A PDF to hand over, or a spreadsheet to sample from.
Why from outside the server
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Nothing to install
No agent to roll out or patch, and no change request on the server. Alertica logs in over SFTP with a read-only login.
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Out of the deployers' reach
Alertica runs on our servers, so the people who deploy changes can't quietly switch off the control that watches them.
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Auditors can look for themselves
Give your auditor a Viewer seat. They see every alert and note, and can download them, but can't change anything.
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Only fingerprints leave
Alertica works out a fingerprint of each file on your server. File contents and financial data never leave it.
Live in three steps
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Connect a server
Add a server with an SFTP, FTPS or FTP login. A read-only login is enough.
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Set your rules
Pick a folder and say what matters. We set up the rules for your change control with you on Pro.
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Choose who hears about it
Add the control owners who should get alerts, by email, SMS or Slack. Each one is kept for your auditor.
Questions about SOX
What Alertica does for your IT general controls.
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Does SOX require file integrity monitoring?
SOX asks for effective internal control over financial reporting, and auditors test IT general controls such as program changes. File monitoring is a detective control that catches changes that skipped the process.
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Will this fix a change management deficiency?
It adds a detective control. Whether that is enough depends on the deficiency and on your auditor.
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What does Alertica record for each change?
What changed and when it was found, who was told, and who reviewed it, with their note. Who made the change is in your server's own logs, and the note is the place to record it.
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Do you copy our files?
No. Alertica works out a fingerprint of each file on your server and reads back only that, with the file's name, size and date. File contents never leave the server.
Set up change monitoring with our team
Tell us which systems are in scope for your ITGCs. We'll set up the rules for your change control with you and go through the first scan together.