26 March,2009 07:48 AM IST | | Kumar Saurav
Technological inclusion in accounting in a must for effective corporate functioning and investor protection, stress experts Satyam fraud: Ramalinga Raju
The Rs 7,000-crore fraud by Satyam founders shows how a fraud of such enormity can be easily committed, and if not admitted to, remain concealed for several years, in spite of the presence of internationally renowned auditors, reputed board member and other vigilant stakeholders. Sometimes, the machine can prove better than man. We present an array of technology insertion methods that can keep your firm safe from account manipulation.
Limited access helps
To begin with, statutory auditors, audit committee members and independent directors should be given limited password access to the computers that are linked to the company's bank account. This would enable easier checks on bank balance, FD receipts and transactions.
Online reporting
It should be made mandatory to report on an online basis entire party transactions to the stock exchanges and Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Anand Desai, managing partner, DSK Legal, "This will help exchange boards to conduct sample checks. Once corporate houses know that they are being watched, they would not manipulate, in the fear of being caught."
A database of financial frauds committed, and a prediction log will help detect manipulations quickly and accurately. Also,u00a0 customised software can be employed for the job. Once transactions are routed through these, unusual money movements can be spotted easily.
Automation has many advantages. It's time human interference was reduced in the auditing and accounting processes, in order to facilitate authenticity. A language called XML allows computers to interact with each other without human intervention. A subset of this language, called xBRL, enables computers to understand financial statements. If the financial statements are sent in xBRL code, it would be easy to detect a gap in the tally because the programme raises an alarm.
Employees, irrespective of the position held, shouldn't be given right to anything and everything. For example, a CEO should not be allowed personal and unchecked access to systems.
E-security to the rescue
Like physical assets, a company has e-assets too, in the form of emails, text documents and financial drafts. Through appropriate firewall applications, suspicious email and web traffic can be stopped at the entrance of the network, thus preventing external tampering.
Getting vaccinated
If proper vaccines (anti-viruses and applications) are used, it would prevent account software from being maligned by instructions of attackers and fraudsters. The vaccines ring a bell every time a normal program starts functioning erroneously. "Since viruses are used to pull out information, it becomes important not to detect them before they have entered the system, and not after the damage is already done," suggests
Vijay Mukhi, president, Foundation of Information Security and Technology.
Spot vulnerability
Every accounting system, no matter how technologically advanced, has its loopholes, and attackers try to target these vulnerabilities. Through Vulnerability Analysis (VA) and Penetration Testing (PT), such weakenesses can be detected early. Get all the support before it's too late.
