During a routine internal software licensing review, an IS auditor discovers instances where employees shared license keys to critical pieces of business software. Which of the following would be the

Recommending monitoring tools is a solution-oriented action that should follow the determination of a non-compliance issue, not precede the verification of the license agreement itself.

Recommending the purchase of additional license keys assumes non-compliance, which needs to be verified first according to the existing agreement.

While validating user need for shared licenses might inform future licensing strategies, it does not address the immediate compliance question of whether current sharing is allowed by the existing agreement.

The auditor's primary responsibility is to assess compliance. By verifying the licensing agreement, the auditor establishes whether the observed behavior (shared use) is permissible or a violation, which is crucial before recommending any remedial actions or purchasing additional licenses.