MIS :: Electronic information

Electronic information is essential to the achievement of disposal organizationalobjectives. Its reliability, integrity, and availability are significant concerns in mostaudits. The physical exertion of ready reckoner networks, particularly the Internet, is revolutionizing theway government conducts business. While the benefits have been terrific and vastamounts of information are now literally at our fingertips, these interconnections likewisepose significant risks to computer systems, information, and to the critical operationsand infrastructures they support. Infrastructure elements much(prenominal) as telecommunications,power distribution, national defense, law enforcement, and government and emergency serve are subject to these risks. The same factors that benefit operationsspeed andavailablenessif not properly controlled, can leave them vulnerable to fraud, sabotage,and malicious or mischievous acts. In addition, natural disasters and inadvertent errorsby authorized compu ter practicers can have devastating consequences if informationresources are poorly protected. upstart publicized disruptions caused by virus, worm,and denial of service attacks on both commercialised and governmental Web sites illustratethe potential for damage.Computer security is of increase importance to all levels of government in minimizingthe risk of malicious attacks from individuals and groups. These risks entangle thefraudulent loss or misuse of government resources, unauthorized admission fee to release ofsensitive information such as tax and medical examination records, disruption of critical operationsthrough viruses or hacker attacks, and pass or destruction of data. The risk thatinformation attacks will threaten alert national interests increases with the followingdevelopments in information technology Monies are more and more transferred electronically between and amonggovernmental agencies, commercial enterprises, and individuals. Governments are rapidly expanding their use of electronic commerce. National defense and intelligence communities increasely rely on commerciallyavailable information technology. Public utilities and telecommunications increasingly rely on computer systems tomanage everyday operations. More and more sensitive frugal and commercial information is exchangedelectronically. Computer systems are rapidly increasing in complexity and interconnectivity. Easy-to-use hacker tools are readily available, and hacker use is increasing. Paper supporting documents are being reduced or eliminated. all(prenominal) of these factors significantly increases the need for ensuring the privacy, security,and availability of state and local government systems.Although as many as 80 percent of security breaches are credibly never reported, thenumber of reported incidents is growing dramatically. For example, the number ofincidents handled by Carnegie-Mellon Universitys CERT Coordination effect1 hasmultiply over 86 times sin ce 1990,2 rising from 252 in 1990 to 21,756 in 2000. Further,the Center has handled over 34,000 incidents during the first three quarters of 2001.Similarly, the Federal Bureau of probe (FBI) reports that its case load of