Opportunities Exist for SEC to Improve Its Controls over Financial Systems and Data
of SEC’s key financial systems and information. To do this, GAO examined information security policies, plans, and procedures; tested controls over key financial applications; interviewed agency officials ... 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 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 ... 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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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.
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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.
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Traffic Ticketing information system
The audit included two areas of focus - the environment surrounding the Traffic Ticketing Information System - the System (designed to input, process, manage and collect payment for the traffic ... tickets) and also the internal environment of the System that guarantees the quality of its performance and safety. ... Security can hinder effectiveness ... SAI of Kuwait analysed system supporting collection of the traffic tickets - data input, processing and management. What was found was lack of basic safety measures, that hindered the effectiveness ... of the system.
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Management and development of IT systems in the Ministry of the Environment
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 ... of the Ministry of Environment, but focused in greater detail on four of them: the Environmental Register, the Estonian Nature Information System, the Environmental Permits Information System and the Land Cadastre ... ... 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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IT Police Systems
Implementation by the Polish Police of two IT projects (E-police station and Command Support System - CSS) was audited. Both systems were to relieve the Police officers and increase the quality ... and effectiveness of their work. Audit explained the reason of failure in the case of E-police station project and success in the case of CSS. Although some irregularities occurred in both cases, careful planning ... and organization of the project turned out to make the difference. Accordance with the public procurement law was not part of the audit as a separate investigation in that matter was carried by respective Polish ... ... A textbook example of how not to implement the IT projects ... Polish NIK compared the implementation of two flagship IT projects of the Police HQ: successful 'Command Support System' and problematic 'E-police station'. List of interesting problems appeared...
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Parallel Audit on Biometric Passports - Overall Results (anonymised)
A biometric passport (or ePassport) contains biometric information which serves to authenticate the identity of travellers. Biometric passport management is the process of establishing ... and implementing the regulation on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by the member states. The aim is to develop and maintain efficient and secure biometric ... passport production procedures (see page 5). ... EUROSAI ITWG: Parallel Audit on Biometric Passports ... Swiss SAI summed up results of audits concluded in seven countries (Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland). The evaluation of the reported results showed that the overall passport ... process is generally under control while a couple of high-risk findings were identified in the non-process-specific assessments. In the non-process-specific assessments, most of the countries found ... deficiencies and weaknesses related to the IS/IT system and the IT management. Medium risks have been identified in the area of laws and regulations, cost-benefit realisation and transparency, as well
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Risks of e-Governance Strategy Dominated by Outsourcing
Audit of IT service in Ministry of Public Assets gave an opportunity to analize risks related to outsourcing dominated e-Governance strategy. Important findings were identified in preparation ... and testing stages, stemming from poor Business Case. ... ... IT outsourcing risks ... Presentation based on audit of IT services in Polish Ministry of Public Assets. Outsourcing risks were classified and next identified at Business Case, preparation and teststing stages.
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Informatisation of hospitals
The goals of the audit were: 1. Assesment to what degree service providers are prepared to implement the electronic health information system. 2. Assessment of government activities related ... to the construction of the health information system within the framework of the "Healthcare Informatisation Program" ... ... Sometimes it is really not about the money.. ... Informatisation of healthcare is one of the most money-consuming IT activities of the State. Polish NIK shows how a poor concept can delay modernization of hospitals. The new IT system was expected ... to take some burden off doctors, streamline medical care, prevent fraud and improve efficiency. But will it be created at all?
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Copyright Office Needs to Develop Plans that Address Technical and Organizational Challenges
The mission of the Copyright Office, a service unit within the Library of Congress, is to promote creativity by administering and sustaining a national copyright system. As part of this mission ... , the Copyright Office registers about 500,000 creative works a year for copyright and records documentation related to copyright transfer and sale. In recent years, the Register of Copyrights has discussed ... the need for a modernized Copyright Office, to include upgrades to the current IT environment. ... No justified investments without IT strategy ... GAO shows in its report on the US Copyright Office, what is a role of IT strategy in organisaion. Effects can be found at the bottom and at the top: the lack of strategic plan can make it more ... difficult to solve practical problems, but it can also put the overall mission of the Office at risk.
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