NCJ Number
68153
Date Published
1979
Length
6 pages
Annotation
AN OVERALL STRATEGY FOR INCORPORATING AUDITING MECHANISMS INTO AN ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM IS PROPOSED IN THIS CONFERENCE PANEL.
Abstract
ALL TRANSACTIONS IN WHICH PERSONAL OR FINANCIAL RECORDS ARE ADDED, CHANGED, OR DELETED MUST HAVE A COMPLETE LOG WRITTEN, COLLECTED, AND RETAINED IN A TAMPERPROOF FILE. DATA CAN THEN BE ANALYZED EITHER MANUALLY OR BY AUTOMATIC MEANS, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE VOLUME, FREQUENCY, AND AMOUNT OF NONRELEVANT OR SPURIOUS MATERIAL. NORMATIVE GUIDELINES MUST BE ESTABLISHED FOR EACH REVIEW IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE FALSE VIOLATIONS FOR WHICH STATISTICAL DATA CAN ALSO BE GENERATED. GENERALIZED OR SPECIFICALLY WRITTEN SOFTWARE CAN, ON AN APPLICATION BY APPLICATION BASIS, DETERMINE VARIANCES, UNUSUAL TRANSACTIONS, OR SUSPENSED ITEMS. COMPARISON OF DATA RECORDS FROM TWO OR MORE SOURCES IS ANOTHER VALID TECHNIQUE. ONE COST-EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS IS TO COLLECT ALL RELEVANT DATA IN A SINGLE PLACE, SEPARATING IT FROM THE NORMAL ACCOUNTING RECORDS. A SECOND APPROACH IS TO DEVELOP A UNIQUE, CASE-BY-CASE ABNORMALITY PATTERN ANALYSIS TO ALLOW THE AUTHOR TO DEAL WITH EXCEPTION INFORMATION ONLY. THIRDLY, THE DETECTION CAPABILTIY MIGHT BE VERY SELECTIVE, ONLY LOOKING AT A SMALL POPULATION OF TRANSACTIONS OR INDIVIDUALS, OR REVIEWING ONLY SELECTIVE TIMES, PLACES, OR AMOUNTS. TO OPERATE ANY SUCH AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING REQUIRES ORGANIZAITONAL COMMITMENT, BUDGET FUNDS, AND TECHNICAL UNDERSTANDING. MANUFACTURERS AND SYSTEM DESIGNERS NEED TO MAKE AUDIT AND DETECTION TOOLS AVAILABLE, USABLE, AND COST-EFFECTIVE. THERE IS A CRUCIAL NEED FOR HIGHLY SKILLED, TECHNICALLY TRAINED PERSONNED IN MANAGEMENT POSITIONS TO ADVISE ON AUDIT TRAILS AND NEEDED CONTROLS. FINALLY, MANAGEMENT MUST LEARN HOW TO ALLOCATE RESOURCES FOR MANAGEMENT CONTROL PURPOSES WITH CONSIDERATION OF THE TRADE-OFFS OF COSTS, POTENTIAL SAVINGS, AND LEVELS OF RISK. A SUMMARY OF THE ENSUING PANEL DISCUSSIONS IS INCLUDED. (MHP)