Brian Zaugg Information Technology Consultant

Many industries are reporting increasing numbers of whistle blowing incidents. The medical industry in particular faces increased risk of whistle blowing due to the extent of medical fraud and the facts that medical abuse victims are often targeted when they are particularly vulnerable and that medical fraud may result in serious harm and loss of life. Businesses and professionals within the medical industry must understand the laws governing medical fraud and abuse and the protections available to whistleblowers. In particular, the federal False Claims Act protections for whistleblowers are particularly strong and those wishing to expose fraudulent activity may do so under the umbrella of these extra protections.

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Unfortunately, many businesses fail to properly understand and plan for the risks associated with outsourcing. Federal and state laws governing financial accountability and the handling of privacy data do not, in general, allow the outsourcing of liability. As a result, businesses may find that controls have been outsourced, but not liability for the failure of controls.

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The federal government has enacted several laws aimed at improving protections related to identity theft. Many states have also taken legislative action regarding identity theft protections. Businesses are faced with the challenges of understanding and following federal and state laws in order to ensure customer and employee information is protected.

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Finance plays a crucial role in the development and operation of an effective and efficient information security (IS) program. On one hand, the role of finance in security relates to expenditures and business priorities.

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Many companies have begun extending employee monitoring to include off-hours or off duty activities. Mujtaba, Griffin, and Oskal (2004) attribute reduction in employee privacy rights, including employer monitoring off-hours, to recent terrorist attacks such as the Columbine shootings and the events of 9/11 (p. 35). Companies pursuing a risk management strategy that includes off duty monitoring of employees must proceed cautiously to avoid legal action from employees for privacy violations.

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Both identity theft and medical identity theft have significant negative impacts for the victims. Since the victim’s identity has been stolen, the process of establishing that the victim did not actually complete the financial transactions is lengthy and difficult.

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In the 2007 article, “Strategic risk management: Creating and protecting value,” Beasley describes Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) as, “an emerging business practice […] that emphasizes a top-down, holistic approach to effective risk management for the entire enterprise” (p. 26). As Beasley explains, ERM is distinguished from traditional risk management because ERM “strategically [considers] the interactive effects of various risk events with the goal of balancing an enterprise’s portfolio of risks to be within the stakeholder’s appetite for risk” (p. 26); whereas, traditional risk management is a “silo […] approach, where risks are often managed in isolation, with minimal oversight [of affects to the enterprise as a whole]” (p. 26). Beasley describes an ERM framework known as, “The Return Driven Strategy Framework,” and describes how the framework could have helped in several real cases where risks became issues.

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Discussions about information technology (IT) and business are often focused on new and emerging capabilities that will be developed and delivered. However, in practice, information technologies have a lifecycle. Many times, an information system’s role in business operations may extend the lifecycle. These systems are often described as ‘legacy.’

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Businesses have come to depend upon reliable networks for the conduct of operations. Raytheon Company is no exception to this trend. By utilizing a change management process and investing in technical redundancy, Raytheon manages and mitigates the risks of network dependency.

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Modern businesses depend upon information technologies for nearly every facet of enterprise operations. IT has provided significant productivity and agility benefits to companies that make the investment. However, there are also risks associated with the reliance on IT.

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