By, CA K RAGHU, PAST PRESIDENT – INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA

Technology in Business Technology has been essential element of almost all the businesses in the present day scenario. Use of Advanced technology has redefined the modern day business operations.

Technology in Business Computers may be used for the performing following activities : Business Communication Customer Relationship Management Marketing and Advertising Data Mining Human Resource Management etc.

Cyber Threats Malware Attacks such as Viruses, Worms and Trojans Phishing Denial of Service(DOS) Attack Password Theft Spoofing Social Engineering Botnets Tampering etc.

Impacts of Cyber Attacks Loss of Data Fraud or Revenue Loss Disruption of Operation Theft of Intellectual Property Damage of Reputation

Cyber Attacks in the Recent Years According to a recent survey report, 72% of the Indian Companies faced Cyber Attacks in Sony Pictures (Nov 2014) – Loss of several internal data centers Staples (Oct 2014) – Access to Information of about 1.16 Million Credit Cards

Factors influencing Cyber Attacks Failure in inclusion of Security and Controls in the Company design principles. Failure in understanding the root cause of the attacks / issues while resolving them. Lack of Technical Expertise on the Cyber Security within the Organization Ineffective Threat analytics

How to Mitigate Cyber Risks ?  Know potential attackers ?  Understand their objectives  Know what tactics they might use ?  Establish or/and Enhance risk – prioritized controls.  Detect violations & anomalies through better situational awareness across the environment.  Establish the ability to quickly return to normal operations & repair damage to the business.

Who is responsible for Cyber Security Management Has the ownership, responsibility and accountability for assessing, controlling and mitigating risks. Audit Committee Also has an equal or higher role in establishing and ensuring Cyber Security. Internal Audit Responsible for regularly reviewing controls pertaining to Cyber Security External Auditor / Specialist Can be valuable source of information on cyber security and may well assist in assessing Cybersecurity. Cyber Security

Scope of Professionals in Cyber Security Due to Lack of expertise within management on Cyber Security, role of professionals with expertise on Cyber Security has become significant in Mitigating Cyber Risk. Due to Continuous increase of Level of Cyber Risk among the business organizations, Cyber Risk Services has been creating global opportunity for the professionals.

Role of Professionals in Cyber Security Framing Cyber Strategies Assisting in Application of security testing Assisting in Application of risk monitoring Supporting in Cyber Analytics Assisting in Breach Crisis Management

Big Data Analytics The Process of examining the large data sets containing a variety of data types.i.e.Big Data. It uncovers hidden patterns, unknown correlations, market trends, customer preferences and other useful business information.

Why is it required ? In 2012, the amount of information stored worldwide exceeded 2.8 zeta bytes. By 2020, the total amount of data stored is expected to be 50X larger. By 2016, the cumulative size of all the world’s data centers is expected to exceed 16,000 acres. An estimated 33% could be useful if appropriately tagged and analyzed but actually analyzed = 0.5%.

Process Information Data Raw unorganized facts, is in and of itself worthless. Potentially valuable concepts based on data. Knowledge – What we understand based upon information Decision Making – Effective use of Knowledge

How does it work ? Big data analytics requires exceptional technologies to efficiently process large quantities of data within tolerable elapsed times. Converts unstructured data into Structured data.

Tools Used Suitable tools used in big data analytics include : -A / B Testing -Crowdsourcing -Simulations -Data fusion and integration -Genetic algorithms -Time series Analysis

Audit with analytics Examine larger sets of data beyond current sampling techniques. Ability to focus on areas beyond Financial compliance – based work. Improves audit quality, answering regulators’ call for a continued focus on the quality of audit work and audit evidence, and higher levels of professional skepticism. Helps companies to move beyond hindsight to insight and foresight.

Conclusion Increased use of computers and technology in the businesses has widened scope of Cyber Risk Services. Big data analytics has created new trend across businesses in perception of data by both management and auditors. However, Big data requires advanced technologies which makes it more challenging.

K.Raghu & Co. Chartered Accountants. “K R Pinnacle”,No.281,II Floor, 7th Main, B.T.M Layout, 2nd Stage, Bangalore Ph: / Mob: – Website: