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Information & Information Technology Assurance
SOLUTION MANUAL
CHAPTER ONE
Review Questions
1. Which system component is the most business critical and why?
The 5 system components are infrastructure, software, procedures, people and information. Even though information is often the result of computer processing, i.e., the end, it is the most important component of a system. Hardware and software are no doubt more complicated than information and usually more expensive. However, the type and extent of hardware and software needed depends on what information the system is intended to process and in turn produce.
2. How would you rank the system assurance criteria for a financial statement audit? For an internal audit?
The assurance criteria are completeness, authorization, accuracy, timeliness, occurrence and efficiency. Financial statement auditors are concerned about completeness, authorization, accuracy and occurrence equally. They are less concerned about timeliness; if timeliness affects the year end, it becomes a completeness issue.
Financial statement auditors are not concerned about efficiency. Internal auditors are concerned about all criteria with efficiency the least concerning; this is because it is better to have reliable information that took a lot of effort to get than to have unreliable information that took only a few minutes to get.
3. Computing power doubles annually. How do you think this affects system assurance?
This allows organizations to collect, store and analyze more information. While that helps makes business more efficient and far reaching, it increases the risk of privacy intrusion, so the criterion affected is authorization in a potentially negative way.
Authorization is also at greater risk as organizations increasingly empower their employees so employees have more direct access to systems and more tools at their disposal. The criteria that are favourably affected are accuracy and timeliness.
4. What
SOLUTION MANUAL
CHAPTER ONE
Review Questions
1. Which system component is the most business critical and why?
The 5 system components are infrastructure, software, procedures, people and information. Even though information is often the result of computer processing, i.e., the end, it is the most important component of a system. Hardware and software are no doubt more complicated than information and usually more expensive. However, the type and extent of hardware and software needed depends on what information the system is intended to process and in turn produce.
2. How would you rank the system assurance criteria for a financial statement audit? For an internal audit?
The assurance criteria are completeness, authorization, accuracy, timeliness, occurrence and efficiency. Financial statement auditors are concerned about completeness, authorization, accuracy and occurrence equally. They are less concerned about timeliness; if timeliness affects the year end, it becomes a completeness issue.
Financial statement auditors are not concerned about efficiency. Internal auditors are concerned about all criteria with efficiency the least concerning; this is because it is better to have reliable information that took a lot of effort to get than to have unreliable information that took only a few minutes to get.
3. Computing power doubles annually. How do you think this affects system assurance?
This allows organizations to collect, store and analyze more information. While that helps makes business more efficient and far reaching, it increases the risk of privacy intrusion, so the criterion affected is authorization in a potentially negative way.
Authorization is also at greater risk as organizations increasingly empower their employees so employees have more direct access to systems and more tools at their disposal. The criteria that are favourably affected are accuracy and timeliness.
4. What