What is considered an important characteristic of effective audit evidence?

An important characteristic of effective audit evidence is that it should provide the basis for conclusions. This means that the evidence collected during an audit should directly support the findings and conclusions drawn by the auditor. Effective audit evidence allows the auditor to make informed decisions regarding the adequacy and effectiveness of the information security management system being audited.

For instance, if the evidence does not clearly support the conclusions, it undermines the validity of the audit results, making it difficult to evaluate whether the organization complies with ISO/IEC 27001 standards. Therefore, having robust, relevant, and sound evidence is crucial to ensure that the audit process is credible and reliable, ultimately leading to meaningful recommendations for improvement.

While factors such as ease of obtaining evidence, source reliability, and timeliness are also relevant in the context of audit evidence, they are secondary to the fundamental requirement that evidence must substantiate the auditor's conclusions.