The data retention policy for a global organization with regional offices in multiple countries should align with local laws and regulations, as they may vary significantly from one country to another and may impose different requirements and penalties for non-compliance. The policy should also consider the corporate policies and practices, the global best practices, and the business goals and objectives, but these are secondary to the legal compliance. References: CISA Review Manual (Digital Version), Chapter 5: Protection of InformationAssets, Section 5.3: Data Classification and Protection

Section: Governance and Management of IT

The recovery time objective (RTO) has a longer duration than documented in the disaster recovery plan (DRP) should be of greatest concern to the auditor when reviewing a bank's SLA with a third-party provider that hosts the bank's secondary data center. This is because the RTO is the maximum acceptable time for restoring a system or an application after a disaster or a disruption. A longer RTO than the DRP means that the bank may not be able to resume its critical business operations within the expected time frame, which may result in significant financial losses, reputational damage, customer dissatisfaction, or regulatory non-compliance12.
The SLA has not been reviewed in more than a year is not the greatest concern, although it is a good practice to review and update the SLA periodically to ensure that it reflects the current business needs and expectations, as well as any changes in the service provider's capabilities or performance. However, a lack of review does not necessarily imply a lack of compliance or quality of service, as long as the SLA is still valid and enforceable34.
Backup data is hosted online only is not the greatest concern, although it may pose some security risks if the backup data is not encrypted or protected by adequate access controls. Online backup data means that the backup data is stored on a remote server that can be accessed via the Internet, which may offer some advantages such as faster recovery, lower cost, and higher availability than offline backup data that is stored on physical media such as tapes or disks. However, online backup data also requires reliable network connectivity and bandwidth, as well as proper security measures to prevent unauthorized access or tampering56.
The recovery point objective (RPO) has a shorter duration than documented in the DRP is not the greatest concern, although it may indicate some inconsistency or misalignment between the SLA and the DRP. The RPO is the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time from a disaster or a disruption. A shorter RPO than the DRP means that the bank may lose less data than expected, which may be beneficial for its business continuity and recovery. However, a shorter RPO may also imply more frequent backups, which may increase the cost and complexity of the backup process

Compliance testing determines whether controls are being applied in compliance with policy. This includes tests to determine whether new accounts were appropriately authorized. Variable sampling is used to estimate numerical values, such as dollar values. Substantive testing substantiates the integrity of actual processing, such as balances on financial statements. The development of substantive tests is often dependent on the outcome of compliance tests. If compliance tests indicate that there are adequate internal controls, then substantive tests can be minimized. Stop-or-go sampling allows a test to be stopped as early as possible and is not appropriate for checking whether procedures have been followed.