Paul Linkchorst

Article: Facebook Ordered to Stop Collecting Data on WhatsApp Users in Germany

According to the New York Times article, German watchdog had ordered Facebook to stop collecting data on WhatsApp users. WhatsApp is an instant messaging application for phones that can be used cross platform and uses the internet to send and receive messages. The…[Read more]

Sean,

I see what you mean. I think in that context a security checkpoint would be effective since it would prevent the theft of small pieces that are built into something valuable. However, I suppose the real question is would it be worth it? I’ll go back to amazon as an example. The company sells items such as jewelry, electronics, and o…[Read more]

Hi all,

To add to the conversation, I don’t think a security checkpoint will be too effective in terms of preventing fraud in the case of GM and Cash. For most of the car parts, anything of value will be too big and heavy to move by person without some form of aid. Therefore, something like the engine or axel would be noticed by security alone…[Read more]

Hi Yu Ming,

When I wrote out my answer I don’t remember having deterrence in mind for the surprise inventory count. You are right, this could prevent those working with inventory from stealing or damaging any products. However, segregation of duties plays a big role in maintaining inventory. If the warehouse workers were the one’s cou…[Read more]

Hi Said,

Exactly. Not only can employees explain why he/she used more than one engine, an operations manager can then go inspect the engine(s) that did not fit the bill for each day. This can serve two purposes. The first purpose is, as we discussed, to prevent fraud from occurring and making sure that no one is stealing. The second purpose…[Read more]

Hi Sean,

You bring up a really interesting point about collusion. As IT auditors, one of our responsibilities (if not main responsibility) is to test internal controls specifically around the IT systems. With that being said, internal controls have one significant “shortcoming” which is that they are prone to collusion. Whether it be aut…[Read more]

What are the advantages of VPN?

A Virtual Private Network, VPN for short, is a network commonly used to “travel” safely across the internet. This occurs by establishing a connection between two networks as if those networks were directly connected to one another and not traveling over the internet. This connection offers security and pri…[Read more]

What is OSI model? What’s the main function of each OSI layer?

According to the text, the OSI model is a seven-layered model that describes “how to build applications, protocols, and equipment that move data from your application to the physical wire, across hundred or thousands of miles, to an application on the other side”. To put simpl…[Read more]

4. As consumers we encounter (knowingly and unknowingly) inventory controls all the time (e.g. locked jewelry cases). What are 1-2 less obvious inventory control measures used. Are these measures effective?

Two less obvious inventory control measures that come to my mind are the tracking of scrap material and surprise inventory counts. For…[Read more]

3. Controls are important in all the OTC processes including shipping. What would be different in the controls of a purely domestic company vs. an international company? Give 1 – 2 specific examples.

One area that comes to mind of the OTC process that will be different for domestic and international companies would be around foreign e…[Read more]

2. Assume the ‘One Piece at a Time’ video scenario could happen. If you are the operations manager responsible for the assembly line, what 1-2 key controls would you implement? Explain how the control addresses the risk.

If I were the operations manager, I would implement a control that measures the number of completed GM vehicles to the…[Read more]

1. Using the Fraud Triangle analyze the ‘One Piece at a Time’ video scenario and explain how the environment was favorable to Fraud.

The fraud triangle consists of three parts; Pressure, Opportunity, and Rationalization. Throughout the song, the environment described several areas that would be favorable to fraud. The first area that cam…[Read more]

Hi Laly,

Those tweets are pretty funny! Unfortunately, I wish it could be just a publicity stunt but instead this hack was backed by some government. I recently just read another interesting article on the breach and it gives a couple of examples of why a government will support such hacks.

Link:…[Read more]

Hi Yu Ming,

After reading your post I thought to myself, what would it be like if operating systems were only used by one company and there were no common operating systems like Windows or Mac OS? Think of it this way, if the operating systems were specific to each business, then growing up we would not develop the computer skills that can be…[Read more]

Hi Abhay and Yu Ming,

It still boggles my mind that many users still use weak passwords when most know of the cyber threats common in this day. For some organizations and users, there is an extremely large amount of valuable information that is only being protected by a password as easy as Dogs123. With that being said, one of the best ways…[Read more]

Hi Ian,

That is a really good analogy to have. To add a little bit to it, not only do managers have different styles, but because of these different styles they are assigned to management different departments. For Linux, this is used in many operating systems that house databases or small applications that you might see in an atm or car. For…[Read more]

Hi Professor Yao,

I would agree with Deepali and Sean. I think a mainframe computer operating system will much easier to protect mainly due to the fact that all one’s resources can be targeted to one computer system. In a distributed computer environment, there are multiple computers that make up one larger computing power. However, each…[Read more]

List common control issues associated with operating systems and remediation strategy/plan.

Two common control issues related to the operating systems is that of unauthorized access and patch management. Since the operating system can access both software and hardware, allowing an unauthorized user access to a system enables them to cause a…[Read more]

Why is it so important to protect operating systems?

The operating system is essentially the “middle man” between a computer’s software and its hardware. This means that it is the operating systems that allow the applications access to computer resources such as the CPU, hard drive, network, and many other information system components. With…[Read more]

Hey Everyone,

I just thought I would provide some help for those having a similar error that I was receiving. When I went to go start up the VM, I would get an error about the 64-Bit not operating. For some intel cpus, they have a function specifically for virtualization. For myself, this feature was turned off on both my laptop and desktop.…[Read more]