Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007
Recent Industry Headlines
Here are the recent headlines (and links) we felt newsworthy:
FEI Survey: Management Drives Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Costs Down by 23%, But Auditor Fees Virtually Unchanged - In its sixth Sarbanes-Oxley compliance survey, trade association Financial Executives International found that Section 404 compliance cost Corporate America less in year three of adoption than in each of the first two years. To get a copy of the survey, click here.
SEC to finalize Sarbanes-Oxley tweaks - U.S. securities regulators will vote on tweaks to the controversial Sarbanes-Oxley law on Wednesday, finalizing changes initially approved in April amid continuing complaints from businesses about the law’s unpopular accounting provision.
Sarbanes-Oxley not dissuading foreign listings-survey - Tough U.S. accounting laws enacted to combat fraud after the Enron scandal have not discouraged firms from listing on U.S. stock markets, although there has been an overall decline in the number of new listings, according to an independent survey.
UPDATE 1-US Treasury’s Paulson to unveil markets initiatives - Although some sections of Sarbanes-Oxley have been criticized for helping to drive stock listings to U.S. exchanges, Paulson has said administrative changes are in the works that would ease such burdens.
SEC to Focus on Returning Investor Funds - Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said he has ordered the creation of a new office that will work full-time to return funds to investors harmed by stock fraud.
Is Your Ethics Program Working? - Ethical behavior, honesty and integrity are issues that senior executives routinely identify as top priorities on their companies’ agendas. But the mere presence of codes of conduct, compliance training and publicized reporting systems does not ensure a company has eliminated an environment that allows or encourages unethical misconduct.
Markets regulator under pressure on all fronts - In the coming weeks, the US Securities and Exchange Commission must decide on a series of critical issues worth billions of dollars, such as how far to cut accounting rules and whether it should side with investment banks or shareholders in a Supreme Court case.
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Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
PCAOB sets vote on AS 5
SOX Section 404 audits will be guided by principles instead of rules
http://www.itcinstitute.com/info.aspx?id=38863
TJX data breach cost is $17 MM and rising
Possible litigation and fines are not included
http://www.itcinstitute.com/info.aspx?id=38864
Band of five form Information Security Management Maturity Model Consortium
ISM3 seeks "achievable security" and meshes with other management systems
http://www.itcinstitute.com/info.aspx?id=38865
Financial fraud takes teamwork, study finds
Conspiracy gang often led by the C-level execs, general counsel, and the auditors
http://www.itcinstitute.com/info.aspx?id=38866
IBM suffers a data breach
Unencrypted tapes went missing while being transported on a contractor’s truck
http://www.itcinstitute.com/info.aspx?id=38867
Regulation Watch
IRS removes obstacle to sharing electronic healthcare records
Nonprofit hospitals can share their systems without jeopardizing their status
http://www.itcinstitute.com/info.aspx?id=38868
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Friday, May 11th, 2007
Get Ready to Analyze, Secure & Protect!
COMPLIANCE READINESS is not solely achievable through the deployment of point products like firewalls, and IDS systems. Rather, it’s the result of implementation of a well designed system of internal controls and the continuous monitoring of those controls that is achieved with continuity protection.
The System-i has a reputation as one of IBM’s most secure architectures with numerous features that offer redundant levels of control. However these features are only effective if properly configured, maintained and protected.
Recent studies have found that many System-i sites are not properly configured largely due to the lack of resources needed to effectively manage the dynamic relationships of users, system access, and applications.
Recognizing that fact we have designed a ProActive Solution that brings together the compliance experts, the auditing software and the security protection to keep away the pain of an IT Compliance Audit.
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http://www.proactivesolutions.com/compliance.html
In one hour we covered:
- Readiness Assessment - Establishing a Baseline of Compliancy, Vulnerabilities, & II Controls
- Tools, Technologies, and Tactics - Learn how to Automate the Compliancy Process
- Business Continuity Planning - More than just "System i"
- Business Alignment - Mapping IT Risks To Business Objectives
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