Accounting Information Systems

Part A

The ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report July 2019 to June 2020 issued by the Australian Cyber Security Centre provides the following example of a cybercrime (2020, p. 14):

In September 2019 a 36-year-old woman who works in the finance section of an Australian consulting firm received an email from her boss requesting urgent payment of an invoice to a supplier in Malaysia. At the time her boss was on a work- related trip to Malaysia and the email was sent from his personal email account which he had used on previous work trips. The woman quickly organised payment of the AUD$240,000 invoice from the company account and replied to the email, providing a screenshot of the transaction. When her boss returned a few days later, he discovered his personal email account had been compromised and the funds had been paid into a fraudsters account. The matter was referred to police for assessment.

What are the types of cyber security threats faced by organisations in Australia? If an organisation came to you seeking advice as to how it could lessen its vulnerability to cyber attacks, what steps would you advise the organisation to take?

Part B

The use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) has become influential for fast and efficient communication of business information. Use of XBRL for transfer of financial information is compulsory for some circumstances in many nations, including in the UK, the US, Singapore and Spain. While the Australian Government invited comment in 2012-2013 on XBRL, its use is not mandatory in Australia.

Assume you are an accountant from a nation where use of XBRL is required under some circumstances, and that you have recently found work as an accountant in a large Australian company. Explain to your accountant colleagues what XBRL is, and its advantages and disadvantages for the company from an accountants perspective.

Please answer the above two questions, please do not write them by hand, thank you very much