The vulnerability of computerised accounting information systems to computer crime.

Romney, M., & Steinbart, P. (2012). Accounting information systems. (12th ed., p. 143). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

For this final paper, I would like to discuss the historical failures that came into light when Mr. Clifford Stoll (the author of “Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a spy through the Maze of Computer Espionage” book) stumbled upon a $ 0.75 accounting error and the revelations that followed, its potential findings, risks and costs associated and why it is important to address and fix those security holes. Cuckoo’s Egg is an interesting read and the author was successful in presenting to his readers the picture of beginning of Internet days (arpanet, then), network practices then. Despite of the fact that this book describes a real incident that in 1980’s, some of the findings are relevant and torment us even today.

| “Security controls are the management, operational, and technical safeguards or countermeasures employed within an organizational information system to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system and its information” (NIST SP 800, 2009). The control allows the organization to efficiently mitigate the risk coming from the use of information System (IS) to conduct business operations and processes.

The same starting information will be accessed by PC from the memory gadget, the recovery of the information will be automatic and the speed of recovery will be a few times faster than that of the manual systems. The movement of the information in the accounting system is the first step, however, movement of information is not the catalyst for business opportunities; supplanting the system obliges customization as per the new system, nevertheless, the current information additionally should be moved into new system (Castle, 2008). The movement of the information does not bring new opportunities as it is expected after the computerization of the accounting systems. The new system will have distinctive risks, and the prerequisites will be diverse for the information operations and recovery. The inside controls will be distinctive, and the regulations will be diverse. The recovery of the information turns out to be simple and snappy due to the modernized systems. However, it has the dangers identified with the utilization of information for the reason other than that for which it was gathered. An employee is not supposed to use confidential information of other employees, and therefore confidentiality must be up held. Personal information should be kept classified and utilized just for the planned reason. The information assurance acts have confined the entrance of information by an unauthorized

With new threats introduced in the accounting environment, modern organizations now must work hard to safeguard information that was not at such a risk prior to new technology. Outside threats are a real danger to accounting functions in modern organizations, but other dangers to success lie from within.

These businesses realize that maintaining the public’s trust is one of the keys to commercial success, so they employ investigative accountants to strategically manage the complexities of risks and threats. Investigative accountants scrutinize fraudulent activities, assist senior management with risk management and strive to mitigate potential vulnerabilities. Investigate accountants often respond to fraud allegations and reported financial irregularities. They adopt a strategic threat management approach that enables them to anticipate and respond to risks. They apply advanced technology approaches to help internal customers track and manage data activities. They employ information management principles, data analytics techniques and sophisticated technology tools to help management make well-informed

Therefore, money handling duties are separated from the record keeping duties when internal control of cash is needed (Averkamp, n.d.). In a typical setting, there should be a mailroom clerk who retrieves the mail, which is sent to the accounting department, who records the cash payment, then sent over to a controller, who finally and should immediately place into the bank for safekeeping. Internal control consists of methods and measures adopted within an organization to safeguard its assets, encourage employees to follow company policy, promote operational efficiency, and ensure the accuracy and reliability of its accounting records (Nobles, Mattison, & Matsumura, 2014). There are five components of Internal Control CRIME: Control procedures, Risk assessment, Information system, Monitoring of controls, and Environment. Control procedures are the policies enforced in company’s infrastructure. Risk assessment deals with the company’s ability to process and analyze their data. Information system is the technology that limits individuals from falsifying data records. Monitoring controls is simply supervising that financial data are accurately being recorded. Control procedures are those that set the tone of the organization such as values and best practices (Mercer University,

Accounting Information Systems The Crossroads of Accounting and IT by Donna Kay, Ali Ovlia Test Bank

The use of information technology in business presents major security challenges, poses serious ethical question, and affects society in significant ways. Especially, the computer crime is a growing threat to society and is caused by the criminal or irresponsible actions of individuals who are taking advantage of the widespread use and vulnerability of computers and the Internet and other networks. It presents a major challenge to the integrity, safety, and survival of most business systems.

There are several procedures that should be considered when implementing internal controls for your business. There should be a segregation of duties between different individuals to lessen the threat of

To organize reliable financial information is a necessary responsibility of the management of each public organization. The aptitude to successfully manage the organization's business requires accessibility to appropriate and accurate information. Furthermore, investors must trust company's financial reports if the company wishes to raise capital in a public security market. The management's ability to produce trustworthy, reliable, and accurate financial reports depends on the design and success of the processes and safeguards it has put into place over their financial reporting. Although sensible control systems fail for produce ultimate guarantees to assure that financial reports will be free from errors or misstatements, an effective internal

Organizations, on the other hand, are prime targets for social engineering attacks. As technological changes moves at such a rapid rate, many companies, especially, small businesses struggle to keep pace, and policies and procedures are developed haphazardly, if at all. However, information security poses a great risk and must be addressed if organizations are to avoid a range of unpleasant side-effects and sometimes significant financial losses. A 2007 study conducted by the Ponemon Institute on security breach revealed that “average total cost per reporting company was more than $6.3 million per breach and ranged from $225,000 to almost 35 million”. Moreover, according to an article published in one of the leading Information Security Magazines “85% of organizations experienced a data breach in 2008” (Raymond.Al, 2009).

Information systems changed forever the way accounting tasks are processed. The days of green paper pads are gone, and instead businesses have a centralized place where all accounting transactions are entered and saved. No more looking for paper

This paper will be discussing Internal Controls in an Accounting Information System (AIS). We will be defining what an internal control is, what is its purpose and how it benefits entities. We will even touch on some of the problems that can occur with internal controls. There are five components that make up internal controls, they are Control Environment, Risk Assessment, Control Activities, Information and Communication, and Monitoring. These components will be discussed in more detail as well, we will look at what each of these does and what purpose they serve.

A business can not work out without an account system, which includes internal. Internal controls are used by companies to make sure financial information is accurate and valid. Strong internal controls are signs of a financially healthy company and protect the company’s integrity. Strong internal controls can also increase a company’s profitability. There are several types of internal controls that companies used to protect themselves such as: Segregation of duties, asset purchases, supervisor review, internal audits and adequate documents and records. This paper will discuss several topics from a case study about And the Fraud