Auditing software - Overcoming the fear

Today software is used in nearly every product manufactured or service provided. However most organizations do not include software in their internal audit process. The fear is that software is hard to understand and difficult to audit. This paper examines issues related to software such as key definitions, types of software applications that should be considered part of an internal audit program, methods for qualifying software auditors, types of software audits, and techniques for auditing software. The target audience for this paper is those individuals in the organization who are responsible for managing and performing internal audits.