24. Corporate
Security Issues in the Information Age
Presenter: Amy W. Ray, Bentley College
Description: In this
Information Age, security of electronically shared information is key to
organization success. Increased connectivity enables business, but also enables
unintentional entry of errors as well as international theft, modification, and
destruction of organizational data. This session will begin with a quick
overview of current and future trends in electronic information sharing and
associated points of system connectivity that present new information security
risks for most organizations operating in this Information Age. We will focus
on two types of connectivity that are creating new risks as well as
opportunities:
- Inter-organizational connectivity,
including electronic networks shared among trading partners (manufacturer to
distributor to retailer, etc.), and
- External connections to employees
working outside of the office, including "always on" or broadband
connections from home computers and connections to laptop computers and other
Internet devices used by sales personnel and other "road warriors."
Throughout this session, we will
discuss potential effects of new network connections on the roles and
responsibilities of auditors, managerial accountants, and other professional
services consultants. We will focus special attention on possible implications
of ubiquitous networks and related information security issues for research
efforts and course content development by auditing, managerial accounting, and
information systems faculty.
