Opportunities Exist for SEC to Improve Its Controls over Financial Systems and Data
. In carrying out its mission, the SEC relies on computerized information systems to collect, process, and store sensitive information, including financial data. Having effective information security controls ... The SEC is responsible for enforcing securities laws, issuing rules and regulations that provide protection for investors, and helping to ensure that the securities markets are fair and honest ... in place is essential to protecting these systems and the information they contain. <br/> This report details weaknesses GAO identified in the information security program at SEC during its audit ... IT security basics under scrutiny ... Financial audit by US GAO was accompanied by an IT examination focused on information security measures in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). GAO found that SEC’s systems could ... be compromised, because of risks jeopardizing the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive financial information.
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Information Technology Cost Estimation Agencies Need to Address Significant Weakness in Policies and Practices
and agencies have appropriately implement costestimating policies an procedures(four caracteristics of a reliable cost estimation: comprehensive, well-documented, accurate, credible). ... To estimate reliable cost for the sucess of an IT program by providing the basis for the informed decision making and realistic budget information. To assess the extent to which selected departments ... IT cost estimation ... Check out what may go wrong with the information technology cost estimation. Results of the US GAO audit can help to identify high risk areas: comprehensiveness of estimations, their documentation ... , lack of adequacy and inadequate implementation.
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Submission of data to national databases in municipalities, towns and cities
must be clearly financed from the state budget. It was also assessed whether the measures taken by database managers have been sufficient to guarantee that local authorities submit all required data ... and that these data are correct. ... The National Audit Office analysed the activities of the database managers following a ruling made by the Supreme Court in 2010, which stated that the public functions assigned to local authorities ... ... Funds as basic factor of data processing ... The NAO of Estonia audited the activities of state agencies in the management of the database selected for the audit, to which local authorities are obliged to submit data. It was found that in most ... cases the state does not compensate the costs of data submission for local governments.
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Report on the government’s processing of confidential data on persons and companies
Rigsrevisionen has examined how eight government institutions process confidential data on persons and companies in 11 selected IT systems. The report is based on IT audits carried out in connection ... with the annual audit in the spring 2014. The purpose of the audit was to assess whether confidential data on persons and companies are adequately protected by the government institutions. ... ... Inadequate protection of confidential data ... If a government institution does not protect confidential data to the extent necessary, the risk that third parties get unauthorized access to the data is very high. In opinion of the Danish SAI ... , inadequate protection of confidential data may also erode the citizens’ and companies’ confidence in government data security. That may eventually become a barrier for the continued efforts to implement ... e-government and make government administration more efficient.
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Management of Police Information Resources
Police tasks of the necessary data are processed departmental registers, information systems, automated data processing systems and networks where information is stored, processed and transferred ... , monitoring, evaluation and coordination and other aspects of registers and IS strategic management. The audited period was 2012-2014. For the analysis, there were used previous data and data of 2015 ... to the classified information. The police department has all of these information resources, so the audit focused on the activities and actions of the Department to ensure planning and organizing of the recourses ... ... Fundamentals of IT organisation ... Review by SAI Lithuania makes readers aware that nowadays it is difficult to develop a larger IT system without whole conceptual infrastracture: planning composed into strategy of the organisation ... and well understood architecture of information. Well functioning IT management structures, which on the other hand may sound trivial, were proved here as the key to success.
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Management of Information Resources of the Ministry of the Interior
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 ... of 2016. For data analysis, data from other periods was used. The audit was conducted in the Ministry of the Interior. We also collected information at the Information Technology and Communications ... Department and State Enterprise Regitra which are responsible for administration of the information resources managed by the Ministry as well as data security and development. ... ... 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.
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Management and protection of assets in the field of the information-communication technologies at the AO SR
The Supreme Audit office of the Slovak Republic (SAO SR) has executed the audit at the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (AO SR) for the audit period 2010 and 2011 to verify the operation ... and security of the information-communication technologies (ICT) and the information systems of the public administration (ISPA) as well as the state assets administration, the economy and disposal ... with the state assets, the compliance with the generally binding legal regulations and the general statues in the field of the ISPA. There were 24 irregularities found, mainly in the field of the protection ... ... ... Failure to comply with the law leads to unnecessary jeopardizing of data security ... SR) exposed several deficiencies related to the information systems and the data security as a consequence of a lawbreaking. ... The audit in the field of the information systems of the public administration (ISPA) executed by the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic at the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (AO
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Management of Information Resources of the Ministry of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania has managed 32 information systems and registers. Of these, 24 ones are managed, developed and upgraded by a state enterprise subordinate ... to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Information and Rural Business Centre. The annual amount allocated by the Ministry for the maintenance of the Centre totals LTL 17.5 million on average ... . The objective of the audit was to assess the general and development controls of the information resources of the Ministry of Agriculture. The audit was conducted at the Ministry of Agriculture and the state ... ... Without appropiate IT management  it is hard to achieve reliable, consistent and secure systems for agriculture ... Since 1996 the Ministry has been using information systems of varying complexity for collecting and processing data, including personal data. The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania ... has managed 32 information systems and registers. SAI of Lithuania revealed that systems were not well mantained what affected use of funds devoted to the systemsand also their legality and security.
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Management and development of IT systems in the Ministry of the Environment
. The audit revealed that the correctness and reliability of the environmental data was guaranteed to a considerable extent. The exception here is the Environmental Register, which contains considerably more ... The purpose of this audit was to assess whether the information systems in the area of government of the Ministry of the Environment (and their development) support the reliable, economical ... and sustainable collection and use of environmental information. On a broader scale the National Audit Office looked at all of the 42 environmental information systems created in the area of government ... ... Estonian environmental information system needs reforms ... Correctness and reliability of the environmental data is guaranteed to a considerable extent. However there is a need for redevelopment of environmental information systems, particularly ... by the Environmental Register.
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Audit on the operation of the “Ministry of Finance” Central Budget Chapter
The audit was carried out on the "Ministry of Finance" central budget chapter and covered the period of 2003-2008. One of the audited activities of the Ministry were the IT systems ... and their development and the role of the Hungarian State Treasury within the IT framework of public finances. ... ... Simple receipt: calculate costs, standardize data, divide duties... ... Hungarian Audit Office analyzed in detail fundamentals of proper IT investment taking into account problems of Budget Management System.
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