PC Solutions (Proprietary) Limited (PC Solutions) is a newly established company that sells a wide range of computer appliances. Their Head Office is situated in Stellenbosch. They have warehouses in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg from where their deliveries to customers take place.

You currently work for Adams Auditors as an audit clerk and are busy planning the audit for PC Solutions.

PC Solutions employs over 180 staff members and each employee has a computer system that is connected to the main frame computer located in the computer room at the Head Office in Stellenbosch. All of the computers are connected via a local area network (LAN). By using a unique username and password, all users can login into the network and gain access to various application software programs as well as data files. The computer room contains five processors, an application server, data server and a main frame computer on which all information is stored.

PC Solutions has very good physical controls in all buildings and logical access controls around the computer information system. All these controls are effective and were designed by an excellent computer specialist.

However, during the year of assessment there was a massive break-in and the thieves entered the property through the roof of the building and stole two of the servers and some hard drives. The thieves where so rough and destructive that a fire broke out. The fire was eventually extinguished.

The thieves gained access to the system and removed and changed some of the information.

PC Solutions uses passwords which are linked to usernames to verify access to the information system. The data administrator is responsible for the maintenance of the computerised information collected during any investigations.

1.1 Describe the controls with which unauthorised changes to information on the main frame computer can be detected. (8 marks)

1.2 Describe additional controls PC Solutions could implement to limit losses which result from theft. (10 marks)

1.3 Describe additional controls that should have been implemented to prevent the break-in and to ensure that the main frame computer can only be used for authorised purposes.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

11 The configuration management process will detect the unauthorised change in the system If there i... View the full answer