Management and protection of assets in the field of the information-communication technologies at the ME SR
internal and security directives, unidentified critical and strategic Information Systems (IS), absolutely unsatisfying principles, procedures, conditions and policy relating to the data backuping (and ... The Supreme Audit office of the Slovak Republic (SAO SR) has conducted the audit at the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic (ME SR) for the audit period 2011 and 2012 to examine ... the compliance with the generally binding legal regulations and the general statues in the field of the information-communication technologies (ICT) and the information systems of the public administration (ISPA ... ... Started from contracting, ended in security ... The perceptive and filled with findings audit - conducted by the Slovak SAI - discovered the list of issues which started in careless contracting procedures, failure to update the development concept ... and ended in exposing the organization to high security risks.
Full description

State funds spent on development, operation and using of data centres services
The aim of the audit was to scrutinise the management of funds spent on building and operating the national data centre (hereinafter “STC1 data centre”), including the expenditure of selected ... organisational units of the state on buying hosting, server-housing and other related services. The audited period was between 2010 and 2014; where relevant, the preceding period was also scrutinised. Audited ... entities: Ministry of the Interior (“MoI”); Ministry of Finance (“MoF”); STÁTNÍ TISKÁRNA CENIN, state firm (state banknote printing firm, hereinafter “STC” or “the state firm”). The audit was conducted ... ... Risks steming from uncoordinated strategy ... SAI of Czech Republic analysed consequences of failures in strategic IT management at the state level. Lack of coordination and implementation rules reduced practical role of the ministry whose task ... was to guard high quality standards for all crucial IT systems in the state administration. Next consecquences were (among others) risk of uneconomical results of large IT investment and risk of inefficient ... supply of services, as well as opposite results of workforce reduction.
Full description

Audit of the Government, Government-guaranteed and Municipal Debt Management Information Systems in the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria
The main audit question studied during the audit was: Are the government, government-guaranteed (SDMS) and municipal debt management information systems (CMDR) at the Ministry of Finance effective ... ? The audit covered the period from 01.01.2013 to 31.12.2013 and investigated four major areas: IT system strategy and general management; IT security and controls against disasters; Operational controls ... and Documentation; Application Controls. ... ... Even effective and modern IT systems require improvements and updates to ensure their security and accountability ... For the management of the government, government-guaranteed and municipal debt the Ministry of Finance has established an advanced integrated information infrastructure. According to Bulgarian SAI ... the established system is effective and provides updated, complete and correct information. Nevertheless the audit report points out areas of security, application controls as well as documentation as the subjects ... that need further improvement and optimization.
Full description

Cyber Attacks: Securing Agencies’ICT Systems
Cyber crime is an international problem, and it is estimated that in 2012, 5.4 million Australians fell victim to such crimes, with an estimated cost to the economy of $1.65 billion ... . In the government sector, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD)3 has estimated that between January and December 2012, there were over 1790 security incidents against Australian Government agencies. Of these, 685 ... were considered serious enough to warrant a Cyber Security Operations Centre response. <br/> The protection of Australian Government systems and information from unauthorised access and use is a key ... ... Cyber-security strategy needs consistent implementation and periodic reviews ... List of 35 mitigation controls against cyber intrusions are a basic tool of information security strategy of the Australian Government. Top four are: 1. application whitelisting, 2. patching ... application, 3. patching operating systems, 4. minimising administrative privileges. Analysis by the ANAO helps to fill gaps and to direct next steps.
Full description

Management of Information Resources of the Ministry of the Interior
Many activities of the Ministry of the Interior require the use of information resources that are of great significance to the entire State, such as the state and departmental registers, and public ... information systems. Whereas the Ministry has failed to implement some of the public audit recommendations of 2007 and 2010,6 we analysed, whether there have been any positive changes in the field of IT ... management. Their impact is important not only because the Ministry manages 16 information resources, which ensure data availability to the population, efficient activity of the services, and operation ... ... Process maturity examination can help in IT audit ... Main risk areas in case of this audit were strategic and organisational - Ministry’s weak ownership of IT resources, insufficient audit and internal control function. SAI Lithuania auditors found ... also flaws in change management and security processes. But the finding, which gave them the key to the root cause of problems, was connected with maturity assessment of the auditee's IT processes.
Full description