Cybersecurity Measures for Businesses

The assignment examines the impact of a ransomware attack on Motherboard and More company, highlighting internal vulnerabilities in their revenue cycle. It then outlines key cybersecurity measures to prevent similar incidents, emphasizing the importance of regular backups, robust anti-virus software, timely software updates, and user awareness regarding suspicious emails, websites, and apps. The document concludes by summarizing the crucial steps organizations must take to safeguard against ransomware threats.

Running head: ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM 1
Accounting Information System
Name:
Institution Affiliation:

ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM 2
Executive Summary
In this research it is a report which contains various aspects which would be discussed in relation
to the Motherboards and More company. The report would focus on the revenue cycle, the
overview of the ransomware attack and the appropriate controls against internal controls
weakness and ways of preventing ransomware attack.

ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM 3
1. Overview of the revenue cycle for Motherboards and More ltd
The basic activities which are undertaken under the revenue cycle are sales order entry, shipping,
billing and the cash collections.
Sales order entry
In this activity the customer provide details for the order he want to get, and the company takes
the customer order (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). The next process is that the organization check
and approves the credit of the customer, they also check the inventory availability of that
particular good (Adenike & Michael, 2016). The organization checks the inventory that is
available to be able to fill on the order. When there is no sufficient goods on hand to fill on the
order of the customer, there is a back order which is created. Once the order is available there is
a picking ticket which is then created. This helps to authorize on the inventory control function
to be able to release the goods to the shipping department (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). The next
activity if for the company to respond to the inquiries of the customer.
Shipping
In this activity there is filling of the orders of the customers and shipping them. In this process it
consists of two steps the picking and the packing along with the shipping of the order.
Billing
In this activity it comprise of two tasks which are the invoicing and updating of the A/R
(Romney & Steinbart, 2012). In the invoicing there is creation of a document for billing
processes which is the sales invoice that inform the customer the amount of money they will pay
and where the payment will be sent (Adenike & Michael, 2016). On the updating of the account

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receivable this is where information is used on the invoice to debit the customer’s account for the
credit purchases and credit on the account of the customer when the payment have been made
(Laudon & Laudon, 2016).
Cash collections
The cashier usually handles on the remittances of the customers and make the deposits in the
bank. The remittances usually provide the details of the names as well as the amount of the
remittances of customers and send this to the account receivables (Laudon & Laudon, 2016).
2. The internal weaknesses of revenue cycle of Motherboards and More.
Internal control weaknesses Impact of the weaknesses to
the organization.
Internal controls to be
implemented in
Motherboard and More
organization.
1. In the sales order:
There has been large
numbers of the errors
where the customers
have been given wrong
items.
 This could lead to
losing of the customers
as they are provided
with the goods they did
order.
 The image of the
organization would be
tarnished as many
would stop relying on
the product from the
 There should be data
entry checks.
 The credit should be
approved by the credit
manager, and not by
the sales functions.
 The workers should
accurately record on
the customer account
balances. Additionally

ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEM 5
company. there should be
signatures on the paper
documents; these are
the digital signature as
well as the digital
certificates which are
issued for the E-
business.
 There are is also the
inventory control
system that should be
implemented.
2. In issues in the
shipping and the
delivery; there is
shipping errors
especially when the
customers are sent
wrong goods, wrong
quantities and the
wrong address (Tazik
& Mohamed, 2014).
 The company has
encountered a loss due
to this negligence as
some product end up
with the wrong
customers.
 The company needs to
reconcile the sales
order with the picking
ticket as well as the
packing slip.
 They should
implement the data
entry application
controls.
 There should be

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documentation of the
internal transfers for
the inventory, the
periodic physical
counts of the inventory
along with the
reconciliation of the
counts for the amount
that is recorded.
Question 3: overview of the Ransomware attack.
The ransomware is an attack which was caused by the self-replicating piece of the software and
it takes the advantage of the vulnerabilities to the older versions of the Microsoft Windows
(Tazik & Mohamed, 2014). This attack usually spread from one computer to another as it finds
the exposed targets (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). The individuals who were responsible for this
attack had demanded three hundred dollars to provide the access to the system which they had
attacked (Brazel & Agoglia, 2007). This ransomware attack encrypted the data on to the
computers. This was the most disruptive attack which has ever been reported as it affected dozen
of the countries and they locked the computers and held the files of the users and demanded
ransom from multitude of the hospitals, the government and various companies across different
sector.
Appropriate controls to be implemented in Motherboards and More company to prevent
ransom ware attacks.

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I would recommend the organization to implement the following measures to prevent an attack
like this one highlighted.
1. Backup your files: The greatest damage to which the organization may suffer from the
ransomware attack would be the loss of the files. Back up is the best protection against
any ransomware (Tazik & Mohamed, 2014). Keeping of the files and the company
information in a completely separate system is the best thing. The best they could back up
is either to an external drive which is not connected to the internet.
2. Use of an anti-virus program: An anti-virus program has the capability of scanning the
files to be able to see if they contain the ransomware before even downloading them.
They are able to block secret installation from any malicious adverts when one is
browsing through the internet (Tazik & Mohamed, 2014).
3. It is always important to install updates: Organization more often release software
updates to be able to fix the vulnerabilities which could be exploited to install the
ransomware. It is always important and advisable to download the newest versions of the
software you are using in the organization (Uyar, Gungormus & Kuzey, 2017). In the
case highlighted it showed that the attackers targeted the Microsoft software which were
not updated.
4. It is always important to be suspicious of the emails, and websites or the apps: The
individuals in this organization need to be always cautious when opening the unsolicited
emails or visiting the websites which they are not familiar with. Moreover, they should
not download an app which is not verified by their official store (Tazik & Mohamed,
2014).

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Conclusion
Based on the report it has highlighted on the various aspect which affects Motherboard and More
company. The report has focused on the internal weakness which the company has encountered
in regards to their revenue cycle, the ransomware attack and the various means to prevent similar
situation occurring in the organization.

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References
Adenike, A. T., & Michael, A. A. (2016). Effect of Accounting Information System Adoption on
Accounting Activities in Manufacturing Industries in Nigeria.
Brazel, J. F., & Agoglia, C. P. (2007). An examination of auditor planning judgements in a
complex accounting information system environment. Contemporary Accounting
Research, 24(4), 1059-1083.
Gordon, L. A., & Miller, D. (1976). A contingency framework for the design of accounting
information systems. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 1(1), 59-69.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
Romney, M. B., & Steinbart, P. J. (2012). Accounting information systems. Boston: Pearson.
Tazik, H., & Mohamed, Z. M. (2014, February). Accounting information system effectiveness,
foreign ownership and timeliness of corporate financial report. In 5th Asia-Pacific
Business Research Conference (pp. 17-18).
Uyar, A., Gungormus, A. H., & Kuzey, C. (2017). Impact of the Accounting Information System
on Corporate Governance: Evidence from Turkish Non-Listed Companies. Australasian
Accounting Business & Finance Journal, 11(1), 9.