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DTI code to become British standard
Computer Audit Update
•
get staffing right
•
keep narrow focus
•
look at high risk areas
•
be visible
•
deliver
Alan Tolhurst is the Quality and Risk Manager in the Change Management Division at the Inland Revenue. He has developed a range of audit methodologies and approaches for use in the dynamic environment associated with Information Technology. His current role involves the development and application of quality and risk management processes across a large programme of projects. The role includes the management of Quality Audits, Project Audits and Post Implementation Reviews. This article first appeared as a presentation at COMPACS '94, London, UK.
October 1994
Whilst the shutdown at the world's busiest commodities exchange at the Chicago Board of Trade held back trading and the normally frenzied traders on the floor read books or slept, O'Hare airport was paralysed for nearly two hours as FAA crews frantically tried to restore power. Only planes on their final descent were allowed to land and controllers were forced to revert to guiding planes home with 1950s technology. As controllers at Aurora direct flights in a 155 000 square mile airspace, Chicago's Midway Airport had its take-offs and landings heldback as well and Chicago-bound flights throughout the nation were also delayed in a knock-on effect from the problems due to the outage. Reflecting on the days technological mess, Allan Schnaiberg, a Northwestern University sociology professor, forewarned that although technology is appearing to be productive, efficient and competitive, "we don't pay enough attention to the flip side of that: the bigger the system, the more likely the accident."
DTI code to become British standard
NEWS Chicago nightmare m the shape of things to come? A catalogue of unrelated technological mishaps occurred together in the space of a few hours in Chicago recently, reports the Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, NY. The problems for Chicago began at O'Hare International Airport which was brought to a virtual standstill when all of the radar systems shut down at a regional air traffic control centre in suburban Aurora because of a power cut. Shortly after this, computers at the Board of Trade shut down, the reasons for which were not immediately known, and trading was delayed for over three hours. During the mayhem, Chicago-area residents using the long distance telephone service from MCI Communications Corp. found their service disrupted for two hours due to a problem with a software switch.
18
On 1 November 1994, the DTI's code of practice on information security is set to become a British standard. Computer Weekly reports that the standard aims to give companies confidence in their own IT security procedures. The standard, BS7800, will be substantially the same as the code of practice announced by the DTI and the BSI in September last year. There will be a few alterations arising from public consultation and efforts to remove textual conflicts from the document and ensure that the precise details are clear and easily understood.
Pirates threaten software industry The vice president of the BSA in China, Alix Parlour Grace, has revealed to the Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly that the s o f t w a r e publishing industry lost more than $600 million in China during 1993. Losses come from computer users who illegally copy software and computer
©1994 Elsevier Science Ltd
•
get staffing right
•
keep narrow focus
•
look at high risk areas
•
be visible
•
deliver
Alan Tolhurst is the Quality and Risk Manager in the Change Management Division at the Inland Revenue. He has developed a range of audit methodologies and approaches for use in the dynamic environment associated with Information Technology. His current role involves the development and application of quality and risk management processes across a large programme of projects. The role includes the management of Quality Audits, Project Audits and Post Implementation Reviews. This article first appeared as a presentation at COMPACS '94, London, UK.
October 1994
Whilst the shutdown at the world's busiest commodities exchange at the Chicago Board of Trade held back trading and the normally frenzied traders on the floor read books or slept, O'Hare airport was paralysed for nearly two hours as FAA crews frantically tried to restore power. Only planes on their final descent were allowed to land and controllers were forced to revert to guiding planes home with 1950s technology. As controllers at Aurora direct flights in a 155 000 square mile airspace, Chicago's Midway Airport had its take-offs and landings heldback as well and Chicago-bound flights throughout the nation were also delayed in a knock-on effect from the problems due to the outage. Reflecting on the days technological mess, Allan Schnaiberg, a Northwestern University sociology professor, forewarned that although technology is appearing to be productive, efficient and competitive, "we don't pay enough attention to the flip side of that: the bigger the system, the more likely the accident."
DTI code to become British standard
NEWS Chicago nightmare m the shape of things to come? A catalogue of unrelated technological mishaps occurred together in the space of a few hours in Chicago recently, reports the Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, NY. The problems for Chicago began at O'Hare International Airport which was brought to a virtual standstill when all of the radar systems shut down at a regional air traffic control centre in suburban Aurora because of a power cut. Shortly after this, computers at the Board of Trade shut down, the reasons for which were not immediately known, and trading was delayed for over three hours. During the mayhem, Chicago-area residents using the long distance telephone service from MCI Communications Corp. found their service disrupted for two hours due to a problem with a software switch.
18
On 1 November 1994, the DTI's code of practice on information security is set to become a British standard. Computer Weekly reports that the standard aims to give companies confidence in their own IT security procedures. The standard, BS7800, will be substantially the same as the code of practice announced by the DTI and the BSI in September last year. There will be a few alterations arising from public consultation and efforts to remove textual conflicts from the document and ensure that the precise details are clear and easily understood.
Pirates threaten software industry The vice president of the BSA in China, Alix Parlour Grace, has revealed to the Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly that the s o f t w a r e publishing industry lost more than $600 million in China during 1993. Losses come from computer users who illegally copy software and computer
©1994 Elsevier Science Ltd