Business Intelligence Tools, Accounting, and Ransomware Attacks Report

This report is divided into two parts, focusing on business intelligence (BI) tools and ransomware attacks. Part A explores the impact of BI on the accounting function, highlighting how BI simplifies accounting processes and enhances decision-making by providing timely and accurate financial information. It also discusses how the role of accountants has evolved with the implementation of BI, shifting from core accounting tasks to strategic roles. Part B delves into the threat of ransomware attacks, particularly in healthcare settings, and examines the key areas vulnerable to such attacks, such as patient databases and intellectual property. The report outlines the impacts of ransomware on hospitals, including potential patient harm, financial losses, and reputational damage. Finally, it suggests crucial controls, such as firewalls and updated security software, to safeguard organizations from ransomware attacks, emphasizing the need for comprehensive cybersecurity measures to prevent business failures. The report concludes that effective cybersecurity protocols are essential for protecting healthcare organizations.

Running Head: Business Intelligence Tools
RANSOMWARE ATTACK

Business Intelligence Tools 1
Table of Contents
PART A...................................................................................................................................................2
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Impact of business intelligence on accounting function of business.................................................2
Changes in the role of accountants due to implementation of business intelligence........................4
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................4
PART B...................................................................................................................................................5
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................5
Introduction (Overview of Ransomeware attack)..................................................................................5
The key areas where hospitals can be exposed to the ransomware attack:......................................6
Impacts of ransomware attack on hospitals......................................................................................6
Following controls can be implemented by the hospital to safeguard the organisation from the
ransomware attack............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7

Business Intelligence Tools 2
PART A
Introduction
Management of an entity has to perform various kinds of functions to operate its business.
Accounting is one of those functions which is necessary to be carried out in every business.
As accounting is recognised as the language of the business as it covers recording of all the
data relating to the significant transactions and events undertaken by the entity. The scope of
accounting is therefore very vast. To ascertain the performance and financial health of the
business, the timely provision of correct information is quite important. To perform the
accounting function, management has to hire accountant or a team of accountants in case of
large business organisation. In the absence of accurate data, managers cannot determine the
true picture of company’s financial situation. However, with the development of business
intelligence processes, the scope of accounting function has enhanced.
Due to the manual intervention the accounting function has to suffer various limitations. It
was not performed with the complete accuracy and also due to its extremely wide scope, the
accountants could not perform the function of accounting on the timely manner. They could
not help the management of the company in understanding the actual picture of company’s
financial performance by providing necessary and relevant information on time. The results
of accounting functions performed by humans were not as accurate as that of accounting
software.

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Impact of business intelligence on accounting function of
business:
Nowadays, with the advancement of technology such as business intelligence, the function of
accounting has become simplified (Negash, 2004). The use of business intelligence tools has
not only made the accounting simpler but it has also improved the ways in which the
accounting function is performed by the entities. Business intelligence is completely driven
by the technologies and it is used to collect and analyse so that such data can be used for
taking various important businesses (Chaudhuri, Dayal & Narasayya, 2011). The tools of
business intelligence are aimed to improve the decision making of the businesses.
The implementation of business intelligence in the businesses has enhanced the overall
quality of accounting function as it helps the managers in collecting the necessary data from
internal and external sources of data. As business intelligence uses a huge database it allows
the managers to critically analyse the financial data using its various tools and applications
(Turban, Sharda & Delen, 2011). It also facilitates the business managers in preparation of
several business reports that are required to assess the financial situation of the business.
Financial reporting, which is the most important part of accounting function has become quite
manageable for the managers as business intelligence simplified the complex business data
and provides it on time to time basis so that any performance failures could be identified
within the reasonable time. The use of key performance indicators also aids the business
managers in measuring and analysing the financial performance of their business. In
traditional accounting the financial information was used to be provided only on annual basis
to the management but with the use of business intelligence tools, the managers can be
promptly provided with all the significant information so that they can take appropriate
decisions on appropriate time. Also, BI helps the managers in budgetary planning by
providing basis for budgets and financial planning.

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Changes in the role of accountants due to implementation
of business intelligence:
The development of business intelligence tools has undoubtedly affected the role of
management accountants but it has not reduced their roles. Rather, the role of accountants has
now expanded. Earlier the accountants had to indulge in the core accounting functions such
as recording, summarising, classifying the financial information. However, the introduction
of concept of business intelligence has released the management accountants from these roles
and has allowed them to perform strategic roles in the organisation. These accountants are
now required to emphasise on strategic objectives of the company by formulating various
policies and strategies.
Conclusion
Hence it can concluded that the introduction of business intelligence application has
positively contributed to the overall business functioning specially in the areas of accounting
function. It has improved and simplified the business accounting which has released the
management accountants from performing the typical functions of accounting such as
collecting and analysing the data. Now, the released capacity can be utilised by them in
performing the roles of strategic decision making. The scope of their roles is thus widened.

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PART B
Executive Summary
The demand for cyber-security has increased vastly these days due the occurrence of
numerous cyber-attacks in past few years. Those organisations which are big enough are
mainly targeted by the attackers. As these organisations have a great amount of data stored in
the electronic mode, they are more prone to the cyber-attacks. In this report, the impact of
ransomware attack on the hospitals, is discussed. There can be implemented several controls
by the management of hospital to protect the organisation from the attack.
Introduction (Overview of Ransomeware
attack)
Ransomware attack that happened in May, 2017 was one of the major cyber-attack which
has affected various countries. The attack was named as Wannacry as crypto-worm named
Wannacry was involved in the attack (Mohurle & Patil, 2017). The virus was internationally
spread and it was targeting the users of windows operating systems. Hence, a large number of
organisations and individuals were severely affected by the attack (Perlroth, Scott & Frenkel,
2017). Due to the ransomware attack, the access to the significant data of the corporate
offices and other bodies was blocked by the intruders with the intention of demanding ransom
in return of allowing back the access to the valuable data. The ransom was demanded in the
form of crypto-currency i.e. Bitcoin.

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The key areas where hospitals can be exposed to the
ransomware attack:
Database maintained by hospitals is the most critical area which can be severely impacted by
the cyber-attacks. The record of data containing necessary information about the functioning
of hospital, its employees and patients is of the utmost (Gordon, Fairhall & Landman, 2017).
The record of intellectual properties such as the results of various researches and
experiments, drug formulas etc. is generally kept confidential by the hospitals as it provides
its competitive strength in the market. Hence it is critical enough for the organisation.
The health of patients is also the most important factor for the hospitals. The cyber-attacks
can cause severe disruption to the overall operations of the organisation leading.
Impacts of ransomware attack on hospitals
There can be adverse impact of cyber-attacks, like ransomware attack, on the medical
institutions such as it could lead to severe injuries to the health of the patients as a result of
disturbance caused due to attacks. The patients with critical health issues could also lose their
lives as a result of heavy disruptions of operational functions of hospitals. The loss of
sensitive and valuable financial data could also make the organisation suffer heavy financial
losses. It can also amount to loss of institution’s credibility in the eyes of general public. It
can also call for heavy legal actions on the hospital due to the performance failures as a result
of ransomware attack (Martin, Martin, Hankin, Darzi & Kinross, 2017). Loss of competitive
strength over the competing medical institutions could also be another impact of ransomware
attack.

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Following controls can be implemented by the hospital to
safeguard the organisation from the ransomware attack:
The organisation must use the system of firewalls to block the access to the unauthorised
network. The firewall can help in preventing the unauthorised access of the attackers to the
valuable data of the organisation. The use of updated software with upgraded security
features such as antivirus software, for the systems and devices used by the hospital can also
prevent the ransomware attack (Kruse, Frederick, Jacobson & Monticone, 2017).
Conclusion:
From the above report, it can be concluded that the hospital organisation must implement all
the adequate controls to protect itself from the cyber-attacks otherwise it may not only affect
their functioning but will also lead to heavy business failures.

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REFERENCES:
Chaudhuri, S., Dayal, U., & Narasayya, V. (2011). An overview of business intelligence
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Gordon, W. J., Fairhall, A., & Landman, A. (2017). Threats to Information Security—Public
Health Implications. New England Journal of Medicine, 377(8), 707-709.
Kruse, C. S., Frederick, B., Jacobson, T., & Monticone, D. K. (2017). Cybersecurity in
healthcare: A systematic review of modern threats and trends. Technology and Health
Care, 25(1), 1-10.
Martin, G., Martin, P., Hankin, C., Darzi, A., & Kinross, J. (2017). Cybersecurity and
healthcare: how safe are we?. Bmj, 358, j3179.
Mohurle, S., & Patil, M. (2017). A brief study of wannacry threat: Ransomware attack
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Negash, S. (2004). Business intelligence. The communications of the Association for
Information Systems, 13(1), 54.
Perlroth, N., Scott, M., & Frenkel, S. (2017). Cyberattack Hits Ukraine Then Spreads
Internationally. The New York Times.
Turban, E., Sharda, R., & Delen, D. (2011). Decision support and business intelligence
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