AUDITING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USING

COMPUTER ASSISTED AUDIT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

AUDIT CYCLE

Auditor Productivity Tools

• Planning and tracking the annual audit schedule

• Documentation and presentations

• Communication and data transfer

• Resource management

• Data management

Using CAATs in Audit Process

• Used to evaluate the integrity of an application, determine compliance with procedures, and continuously monitor processing result.

• Examples– Audit Command Language (ACL)– Interactive Data Extraction and Analysis

(IDEA)

TECHNICAL SKILLS AND TOOLS• Generalized Audit Software• Application Testing• Designing Tests of Controls• Data Analysis• Compliance Testing• Continuous Monitoring• Application Controls• Audit Functions• Sampling

Generalized Audit Software

• Analyze and compare files

• Select specific records for examination

• Conduct random samples

• Validate calculations

• Prepare confirmation letters

• Analyze aging of transaction files

Application Testing

• Submitting a set of test data that will produce known results if the application functions properly

• Developing independent programs to reperform the logic of the application

• Evaluating the results of the application

Application Controls

• Spreadsheet Controls– Analysis– Source of data– Design review– Documentation– Verification of logic– Extent of training– Extent of audit– Support commitment

Application Controls

• Database Controls– Referential integrity– Transaction integrity– Entity integrity– Value constraints– Concurrent update protection– Backup and recovery protection– Testing protection

Audit Functions

• Items of Audit Interest

• Audit Mathematics

• Data Analysis

• System Validation

Sampling

• Types of sampling– Judgmental sampling– Statistical sampling

• Applied technique if any change to the characteristics or attributes of the population under review:– Random attribute sampling– Variable sampling techniques

Computer Forensics Methods and Techniques

• The IT auditor can work in the field of computer forensics or work side by side with a computer forensics specialist, supplying insight into a particular system or network.

• Computer forensic specialists gather evidence against the individual who has committed a crime in several ways.