HI5019 - Strategic Information Systems for Business: Bell Studio

This report analyzes the strategic information systems of Bell Studio, focusing on its expenditure cycle, associated risks, and internal controls. It includes data flow diagrams for purchases, cash disbursements, and payroll systems, along with system flowcharts for each. The report identifies internal control weaknesses within each system, detailing the risks associated with these weaknesses, such as unauthorized access, sniffing and spoofing, Trojan horse attacks, data theft, and individual sabotage. The analysis highlights vulnerabilities arising from outdated systems, software, and organizational culture, emphasizing the need for strengthened data protection measures and proactive security strategies. The report concludes by underscoring the importance of addressing these weaknesses to safeguard Bell Studio's data and operational integrity.

Running head: STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR BUSINESS
STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR BUSINESS
Name of student
Name of university
Author’s note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Discussion......................................................................................................................3
Data flow diagram of purchases and cash disbursements systems............................3
Data flow diagram of payroll system.........................................................................4
System flowchart of payroll system...........................................................................4
System flowchart of cash disbursements system.......................................................6
System flowchart of purchases system......................................................................7
Description of internal control weakness in each system and risks associated with
the identified weakness..........................................................................................................8
Risks associated with the weaknesses........................................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
This report aims to discuss the situation of the Bell Studio and evaluate the risks,
processes and the internal controls for the expenditure cycle. The data flow diagram of the
purchases and the cash disbursements systems is provided in this report. The data flow
diagram of the payroll system is provided in this report along with the system flowcharts of
the purchases system, cash disbursements systems and the payroll system is provided in this
report. The brief discussion of the internal control weakness in each of the system and the
risks connected with the identified weakness is offered in this report. Lastly this report
concludes with an appropriate conclusion for the report.

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Discussion
Data flow diagram of purchases and cash disbursements systems

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Data flow diagram of payroll system
System flowchart of payroll system

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System flowchart of cash disbursements system

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System flowchart of purchases system

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Description of internal control weakness in each system and risks associated with
the identified weakness
Weakness of the organisation
There are several weaknesses that are associated with the purchase systems, cash
disbursements systems and the payroll system that could not be ignored and the proper risk
assessment is required immediately for allowing the proper functioning of the organisation.
Some of the weaknesses that are associated with the systems are:
The critical importance and the complexity of the systems of the purchasing and the
cash disbursement unfortunately denotes that the changes that are made to system could lead
to the operational disruptions relying on the manner how the system has been implemented
and then deployed. Some of the administrators would choose the segmentation or the delay
updates to the prevention of the downtime and the process shutdown. The outdated systems
of the company would already be lagging behind on the crucial patches so that the additional
suspension of the updates might subject the systems of the organisation at significant risk.
These gaps in the systems and the software might prevail for several years deprived of the
indication of the existence and the delaying of the security software patches would solely
extend the major danger.
There is the weakness in the system of the organisation that could make the systems
and the software of the organisation significantly vulnerable to the external threats. The hard
copy that are managed by the organisation might be significantly subjected to the risk and it
could lead to the loss of critical data. The computers where the data of the invoice are kept
might be subjected to the data security risk. Any hacker could discover the methods by which
the data of the organisation that is managed in the systems of the organisation could be stolen
or compromised. The additional danger that has emerged from the modern technology

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implementation in the organisation. The financial and the professional reports of the
organisation are stored and they are managed in the database of the organisation where there
are several weakness due to the lack of the proper security measures. The prevailing
regulations of the data protection is required to be immensely strengthened for responding
efficiently to the redundant network breaches.
The weakness of the systems that could be exploited by the cyber attackers are being
extensively focussed that are required to be protected. As the business is utilising the
outdated systems and the software, the company is subjected to the threats of the cyber
attackers who could gain the access to the systems and exploit this specific software
vulnerability. The unsecured information system offers the external operators with the ability
of siphoning the data that could be otherwise difficult to access.
Another weakness of the company is the organisational culture that leads to the
opening of the weakness in the system of the organisation. There are some weakness that
emerges with the employees of the organisation when the policies and the procedures are not
properly followed.
Risks associated with the weaknesses
Unauthorised access
The most common security risk for the organisation in the relation to the
computerised information system is danger of the unauthorised access to the confidential
data. The major concern emerges from the unwanted intruders or the hackers who could
utilise the modern technology and the skills for gaining access within the secure computers of
the organisation or disable them.
The risk of the computer viruses in the systems of the organisation is another issue
that creates the data risk. The computer virus is the type of the malicious software that has

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been written deliberately for gaining access deprived of the permission or the knowledge of
the users with the ability of duplicating itself and therefore continuing the spread to the
various sectors of the systems of organisation. The virus program might still induces the
crashes and the data loss. In several cases, the damages that are caused by the computer virus
may be accidental that arises merely as result of the poor programming.
With the regard to the information systems in the organisation, the damages done to
the systems could be executed on purpose or it might be accidental and it is executed on the
basis of any individual or as the act of the industrial sabotage. The insiders comprises of the
knowledge that offers the attackers with major capability to impact the major interruption to
the company by the sabotaging of the information systems severely. The majorly impacted
systems of the organisation could be the hardware and the infrastructure, altering data,
entering of the incorrect data, deleting the software, implementing the logic bombs, deletion
of the data and the implementation of the virus. The deliberate intention of the individuals to
damage the hardware, data as well as the software has been considered as the serious threat to
the organisation that could lead to the immense loss of the data of organisation. The threat
from the vandalism lies in fact that this organisation has been temporarily denied the access
to the system and the resources for some of the individuals. Even the minor damages caused
in the system of the organisation could have the significant effect on that organisation as
completely. The major damage that is caused to the information systems as well as the
corporate data as the result of the error caused by the humans. The accidental damage or the
misuse would be significantly affected in the period of time by disposition and the attitude of
all the staff along with the environment. The human errors have the greater impact on the
security of the information system than the manmade threats that are caused by the
purposeful attacks. But the majority of the organisation are the serious threats to information
systems security could be extensively mitigated.

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Sniffing and spoofing
The hackers that are attempting to try hiding the authentic identity frequently spoof or
they might misrepresent their identity by the utilisation of the fake email address or even
performing the masquerading as any other individual. The spoofing redirecting is the
redirecting of any web link to any address dissimilar from the main intended one along with
the site masquerading as any other intended destination. The links, which have been designed
for leading to a side could be easily reset to send the users to any completely unrelated sites
and any individual that gains the advantage is the hacker. While any sniffer is the kind of the
eavesdropping program that performs the monitoring of the information that is travelling over
any specific network. When the sniffing tool is utilised legitimately, the sniffers could assist
in the identification of the potential trouble spots of the network and exploit that vulnerability
to their advantage. It has been discovered that the detection of the sniffer program are
significantly difficult for the organisation to execute. The sniffers allows the hackers in
stealing the proprietary information from any place on the network that includes the email
messages, the confidential reports of the organisation and the files of the company.
The Trojan emerges as the legitimate for gaining the access to the computers. The
utilisation of the Trojan horses might be done for executing the computer attacks on the
organisation that could harm the organisation significantly. The utilisation of the Trojan
horses for disrupting the activities or even gaining access to the confidential information has
significantly evolved in the recent years. Majority of the Trojans that are encountered by the
business organisation have been designed for gathering the information and also transmitting
the regular reports back to owner. Commonly the Trojan would incorporate the key logging
facility that is also called as the keystroke recorder for capturing the keyboard input from any
provided computer. The capturing keyboard data permits the owner of any Trojan to collect
significant data like the passwords as well as the contents of all the outgoing messages in the