Ransomware Impact on Revenue Cycle: Analysis for Motherboards and More

This report investigates the impact of ransomware attacks on the revenue cycle of Motherboards and More Pty Ltd, an Australian company. It begins with an overview of the revenue cycle and identifies weaknesses, such as credit purchase practices, dock operational inefficiencies, and lack of database management. These weaknesses are linked to potential business impacts, including reduced profits and operational errors. The report then provides an overview of a ransomware attack and discusses crucial mitigation strategies, including enhancing security through antivirus programs, employee awareness training on cybersecurity threats, and applying system patches to address vulnerabilities. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for companies to implement these recommendations to ensure effective business continuity and maintain security levels in the face of cyber threats. The report also provides solutions to address the weaknesses of the company.

Running head: IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
Impact of ransomware on the revenue cycle
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
Executive summary
The report talks about different dangers of the ransomware assault made on the revenue system
of the organization. The chosen organization is the Motherboards and More Pty Ltd and the
nation is Australia. The report additionally creates an analysis of the mitigation procedures for
addressing such assaults.

2IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.......................................................................................................................................3
1. Overview of the revenue cycle:...............................................................................................3
2. Identification of the weaknesses in the company:...................................................................3
A. Weaknesses:........................................................................................................................4
B. Impacts of weaknesses:.......................................................................................................4
C. Controls:..............................................................................................................................5
3. Overview of the ransomware attack:.......................................................................................6
4. Mitigation of the ransomware attacks:....................................................................................6
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................7
References:......................................................................................................................................9

3IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
Introduction:
The main analysis of mitigations required to address ransomware assaults on the revenue
system of the organization is discussed in the report. The report recommends the controls
required to reference them. In addition, the analysis also discusses a conclusion of weaknesses in
the company and their addressing mitigations.
Discussion:
Motherboards and More Pty Ltd is a medium size, elite, Australian company. They are in
charge of the generation of computer microchips, motherboards and graphics card. Furthermore,
they are a key supplier to developers and repairers of computer parts in the whole of Australia.
Motherboards and More Pty Ltd is available in business for a long time and uses a joined ERP
system. The administrative working environments are situated in a centralized building, with the
generation, recovery, and transportation divisions on the edges of the town.
1. Overview of the revenue cycle:
The organization gets a request from their clients for purchasing by utilizing email or
phone. This is usually done through their website. These purchase requests are sent to the dock.
The dock is mainly used for both the incoming and the outgoing deliveries. Nevertheless, the
increase in the deals made were the reason for some blunders causing about wrong or delayed
shipment to the clients alongside the nonappearance of records of returned items.

4IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
2. Identification of the weaknesses in the company:
A. Weaknesses:
The organization has numerous weaknesses because of which the operations are facing
delivery issues.
The main weaknesses are the purchase made on credits, which can lead to less profit
acquisitions.
The weaknesses in the use of the dock for the incoming and the outgoing shipments lead
to problems in operations. The utilization of one dock to convey or get the items can give issues
in operation.
Another weakness in control operations is the absence of databases for keeping up the
records of the items (Zurich, 2017). This likewise makes issues prompting several operational
issues.
Lastly, the discounts of 2% can prompt fewer profits for the company as half of the
customers are deciding to use this method of returning.
B. Impacts of weaknesses:
The weaknesses in credit purchase imply that a company is giving the item as a 30-day
free trial. This leads to prevention of business operations for the first month for every item
conveyed. As the profit originates from these methods, credit usages can cause less profit time.
For an organization to give their items in credit can be an issue if the customers do not have a
decent credit report.
The utilization of the dock for deliveries is another weakness. The operations of the dock
incorporate setting items in a sequential order. Nevertheless, the vast number of offers has the

5IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
possibility to make counting of an extensive number of items which leads to errors even by the
experts.
The database absence is a major requirement as every one of the organizations needs to
keep records of the approaching shipments (Zurich, 2017). The manual recordings of items may
cause problems if the quantity of returned items passes the normal state.
Lastly, the discount can prompt less profit acquisitions. The revenue cycle is affected due
to such offers because people are opting for this mode in cases of returns.
C. Controls:
This section of the report is used to reference the mitigation controls that can be applied
for the business to address such risks.
1. The organization needs to reduce credit purchases as this lessens the rate of profit. In
addition, the clients with great financial assessment scores are only to be offered credit for
keeping the rank in the market (Chen and Tsou, 2012). This should be considered by the
company to apply for credit assessments from financial companies to break down the evaluations
of clients included.
2. The company needs to needs to record shipments. This can be fused into the
framework by embracing software which is available commercially. The software will be in
charge of recording the shipments all through the dock. One such commercial software solutions
is the On Time 360 ("Courier Software and Delivery Dispatch - OnTime 360", 2017).
3. The company needs to keep a database for the products in the warehouse. This
incorporates the account of all the obtained items, sent items and returned items. This will expel
the problems that happen because of manual labor. The recruitment of database maintenance
staffs are also to be considered.

6IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
4. The 2% discount plan is to be disposed as the clients are opting for this arrangement if
there should be an occurrence of return. The organization needs to pick alternative options like
offering other offers (Teixeira et al., 2012).
Internal control weaknesses Impact Mitigation
Purchase on credits Hindrance in sales operation for
the first month
Review of credit scores
Shipment using the same dock Losing count during high sales
activity
Tracking of delivery services by
using software solution
Absence of a database Discrepancies in manual
recordings
Application of a database
solution
High discount in return Customers always opting for this
method leading to less profit
Needs to apply alternative
solutions
3. Overview of the ransomware attack:
Ransomware assault was viewed as the greatest assault which impacted the entire world.
The procedure of this assault generally consists of encryption of vital records in the framework
to avoid access to them. The infected devices showed messages of assault alongside a payment
of 300$ to the assailant. The sum must be stored in Bitcoin. The bitcoin wallet address was
incorporated into the show message ("'Biggest ransomware flare-up ever' hits about 100 nations",
2017). In addition, the sum increased after regular intervals. The message additionally
demonstrated another message of multiplying the sum following three days if there should be an
occurrence of not paying the sum. The most affected services were the medicinal services. They
were compelled to disregard diagnosis to even the critical patients because of absence of their
records.
4. Mitigation of the ransomware attacks:
Ransomware was the greatest cyber assault influencing 99 nations. This gives a
prerequisite for the Motherboards and More Pty Ltd to reference their needs of security and
guarantee the absence of problems (Sittig and Singh, 2016).

7IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
1. The organization needs to guarantee improvements in security by the application of
antivirus programs in their frameworks. These are extremely viable in recognizing the presence
of security issues or malwares in the framework. Kaspersky and Quick Heal are generally used to
address the issues.
2. The company needs to make their employees aware about the presence security
awareness. This includes making the workers aware of the malware or phishing endeavors (Sittig
& Singh, 2016). They are additionally to be taught with respect to the clicking of links from
sources that may prompt breaches to the system.
3. Lastly, the applications of patches to the framework are another practice that removes
such ransomware dangers. The main reason for the occurrence of the ransomware attack was the
absence of patches in the Operating Systems (OS) that reduced the defense against these assaults.
These ransomware assaults exploit the vulnerabilities in the framework.
Conclusion:
Thus, it is concluded from the report that the company needs to analyze the
recommendations discussed in the report. This will enable the company to apply them in their
operations to ensure the effective business continuity. The ransomware attacks are also another
threat discussed in the report and the company needs to address the solutions provided in the
report to maintain their security levels.

8IMPACT OF RANSOMWARE ON THE REVENUE CYCLE
References:
'Biggest ransomware outbreak in history' hits nearly 100 countries. (2017). ABC News.
Retrieved 14 September 2017, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-13/biggest-
ransomware-outbreak-in-history-hits-nearly-100-nations/8523102
Brewer, R. (2016). Ransomware attacks: detection, prevention and cure. Network
Security, 2016(9), 5-9.
Chen, J. S., & Tsou, H. T. (2012). Performance effects of IT capability, service process
innovation, and the mediating role of customer service. Journal of Engineering and
Technology Management, 29(1), 71-94.
Courier Software & Delivery Dispatch - OnTime 360. (2017). Ontime360.com. Retrieved 14
September 2017, from https://www.ontime360.com/
Pathak, D. P., & Nanded, Y. M. (2016). A dangerous trend of cybercrime: ransomware growing
challenge. International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Engineering &
Technology (IJARCET) Volume, 5.
Sittig, D. F., & Singh, H. (2016). A socio-technical approach to preventing, mitigating, and
recovering from ransomware attacks. Applied clinical informatics, 7(2), 624.
Teixeira, J., Patrício, L., Nunes, N. J., Nóbrega, L., Fisk, R. P., & Constantine, L. (2012).
Customer experience modeling: from customer experience to service design. Journal of
Service Management, 23(3), 362-376.
Zurich, L. B. (2017). Service Operations and Management.