Paul Linkchorst

Hey Everyone,

I had a problem with downloading the EER Diagram from the course website. When I logged into the SQL server as a domain account, I wasn’t able to download the file due to a restriction from the domain. However, if you go and click run as another user on internet explorer and use your local account, you should be able to download…[Read more]

Hey everyone,

I see your point that and agree that spear phishing is the more dangerous of the two. However, I interpreted the question to be that if you were being attacked by a botnet or an attack is attempting to make your computer a part of a botnet, what is more of a concern; Spam Phishing or Spear Phishing? In that case, I believe it…[Read more]

Hey Everyone,

So I was able to identify what was wrong with the script and went ahead and uploaded the next script into the group policy. However, when I went to log in as a user I still wasn’t able to access the drives. What I was able to identify was that if I copied the script into the command prompt, the script successfully mapped the…[Read more]

Hey everyone,

I will throw in my two cents on this subject. As much as people want to bash password complexities, I honestly think that having complex password requirements is not too big of a hassle but that people make it harder than it has to be. Half the case is remembering passwords, and if you create the password to be memorable than it…[Read more]

Hi Binu,

You provided a really good example of some of the frustrations by users in regards to access and password security policies. What would you suggest that they do differently or do you think that the process should remain the same? In your example, I think it would be easier to give them a temporary password that expires in 3-4 months.…[Read more]

Hi Daniel,

I have never heard of someone having to change their passwords 2 times a week. That seems really excessive! I wonder how much protection the Korean Army thought they had by changing the password that often instead of once a week or even once every two weeks. It’s like having 3 locks on your front door. Sure they all do a good j…[Read more]

Hi Deepali and Mansi,

I felt that access controls should be the most important in terms of financial and accounting controls. I agree with you Deepali that segregation of duties is extremely important, however, the reason why I ranked access controls over it is because without proper access controls in today’s world, then you can’t eff…[Read more]

4. You’ve used various computer systems in your lifetime, career. System security is complex and often maligned as cumbersome, difficult, bureaucratic, etc. Have you seen these problems in your experience? Explain

Yes I have in multiple organizations. Security by its very nature seems to be bureaucratic since it often times is comprised o…[Read more]

3. Consider the list of financial and accounting controls. Rank them. Which to you believe is the most important, the least. Why?

After doing a quick google search, I came across seven internal controls over finance/accounting. It seems that this list has a list of very broad control categories, however, I have ranked them in order of most…[Read more]

2. What is the relevance of only being able to have one posting period open at a time for real time postings? What does this prevent from happening?

From an accounting perspective, having multiple periods throughout the year is a way to help prevent inappropriate management assertions such as completeness and cutoff. For example, if a…[Read more]

1. Do you believe business rely too much on administrators to configure the security protocols in programs like SAP, rather than look for security in the entire network? Explain

Based on my experiences with internships and in the ITACS program, it seems that a lot of the focus on security protocols are not within programs such as SAP but more…[Read more]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k8qw56pwyvvig2x/Real%20World%20Control%20Failure.pptx?dl=0

Hi Wenlin,

I used to the following source that Professor Wasson linked as well but I was initially confused. However, the instructions is two fold.

1) You need to move the Program Data of MySQL to the new drive. You can do this using the move to function within windows explorer.

2) You need to make a change in the my.ini txt file. You…[Read more]

Hi Priya,

Your comment made me realize another reason why IT personnel should understand accounting/finance processes and why accounting/finance personnel should understand IT. That reason is career advancement. I think for new staff and new employees to an organization, they should focus on specializing in their area and becoming competent…[Read more]

I’ll add my two cents into the conversation. You are right Dan that accounting can be seen as the language of business. If one were to think of it, any action a business takes should be reflected somewhere on the financial statements. Even if an employee is just thinking about what is best for the business, that will be added to the financial s…[Read more]

Hi Laly,

I would consider myself a firm believer of cross training employee’s throughout an organization as well. My reason for believing this is that the more an organization’s employees understand the different processes of the business, the better they can work and collaborate with other members of the business. With that being said, I do…[Read more]

Hi Said and Sean,

At first when I read that the difference between GAAP and IFRS could cause differences in internal controls, I was little skeptical. However, you are right in that the accounting standards call for some different processes which requires a whole new set of controls. As you stated, one of those steps includes the…[Read more]

Are the terms Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) synonyms or are they different? If they are different, what are the differences?

While Business Continuity Plans and Disaster Recovery Plans might sound alike, they are in fact two different areas. One can see this by looking more closely as the names of each plan.…[Read more]

4. How important is it for people responsible for general I/T controls (e.g. Network, workstation, Server and data base security) to know about how the ERP system works? What is one (1) specific thing they should know?

I think that knowing about ERP systems is a very good skill to have as a person responsible for general IT controls, however,…[Read more]