10) Processing Integrity and Availability Controls

Question 1

Define the processing integrity control

Answer 1

The control of ensuring that the organization’s data processing is accurate, complete, and free from errors or inconsistencies. It focuses on data integrity, validation, and processing controls.

Question 2

Processing integrity controls are essential especially during ____________ processes

Answer 2

auditing

Question 3

What does processing integrity criteria also focus on?

Answer 3

Processing integrity criteria also focuses on inputs and outputs to the system, ensuring they are accurate throughout the processing of any actions within the
system.

Question 4

What is criteria 1 of ensuring processing
integrity?

Answer 4

Procedures exist to prevent, or detect and correct, processing errors to meet the entity’s processing integrity commitments and system requirements.

Question 5

What is criteria 2 of ensuring processing
integrity?

Answer 5

System inputs are measured and recorded completely, accurately, and timely to meet the entity’s processing integrity commitments and system requirements.

Question 6

What is criteria 3 of ensuring processing
integrity?

Answer 6

Data is processed completely, accurately, and timely as authorized to meet the entity’s processing integrity commitments and system requirements.

Question 7

What is criteria 4 of ensuring processing
integrity?

Answer 7

Data is stored and maintained completely, accurately, and in a timely manner for its specified life span to meet the entity’s processing integrity commitments and system
requirements.

Question 8

What is criteria 5 of ensuring processing
integrity?

Answer 8

System output is complete, accurate, and distributed to meet the entity’s processing integrity commitments and system requirements.

Question 9

What is criteria 6 of ensuring processing
integrity?

Answer 9

Modification of data, other than routine transaction processing, is authorized and processed to meet with the entity’s processing integrity commitments and system requirements.

Question 10

How is enhancing processing integrity perfromed? (3)

Answer 10

1) Input Integrity Control:
2) Data Entry Integrity Control:
3) Output Integrity control:

Question 11

What is input integrity control?

Answer 11

Also known as an input validation control or input validation check, is a mechanism used to ensure that data entered a system meets certain criteria or standards before it is processed or stored.

Question 12

What is data entry integrity control?

Answer 12

Procedures, mechanisms, and protocols put in place to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and validity of data entered a system

Question 13

What is output integrity control?

Answer 13

Measures implemented to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and security of data and information as it is processed and transmitted out of a system or organization.

Question 14

What are the components of input integrity control? (2)

Answer 14

1) Forms design
2) Turnaround documents

Question 15

What is forms design?

Answer 15

Ensuring that documents/forms are sequentially prenumbered with user friendly design

Question 16

What are turnaround documents?

Answer 16

• A specific type of document used in business transactions, particularly in situations where data
  needs to be entered or processed by multiple parties

Question 17

What are the components of data entry control? (4)

Answer 17

1) Field check: Characters in a field are correct type, format and range values
2) Sign check: Data in a field is appropriate sign (e.g. qty order should never be negative)
3) Limit check: Tests numerical amount against a fixed Value (limit could be Max or Min)
4) Range check: Tests numerical amount against lower and upper limits
5) Size check: Input data fits into the field
6) Completeness check: Verifies that all required data is entered
7) Validity check: Compares data from transaction file to that of master file to verify existence
8) Reasonablity check: Correctness of logical relationship between two data items (Overtime hrs = zero for someone who has not worked max hrs)
9) Check digit verification: Recalculating check digit to verify data entry error has not been made

Question 18

What are integrity controls for batch processing? (4)

Answer 18

1. Sequence check: Test of batch data in proper numerical or alphabetical sequence
2. Batch tools: Summarize numeric values for a batch of input records to present:
   - Financial total - the sum of monetary values within a specific financial context.
   - Hash total - a fixed-size numerical value derived from a set of data.
   - Record count - the total number of records or entries in a dataset, database table, file, or any other collection of data.
3. Prompting: System prompts you for input (online completeness check)
4. Closed-Loop verification: Checks accuracy of input data by using it to retrieve and display other related information (e.g., customer account # retrieves the
   customer’s name)

Question 19

What are the types of output integrity controls? (8)

Answer 19

1) Checksums and Hash Functions:
2) Digital Signatures:
3) Encryption
4) Error detection and correction codes
5) Logging and Auditing:
6) Access Controls:
7) Version Control:
8) Redundancy and Backup Systems:

Question 20

What are availability controls?

Answer 20

Availability Controls provide assurance that your system and data can be accessed by authenticated users whenever they’re needed.

Question 21

What is avaliability typically associated with and what can it be impacted by? (3)

Answer 21

• Availability is typically associated with reliability and
  system uptime, which can be impacted by nonmalicious issues like
• hardware failures,
• unscheduled software downtime,
• human error

Question 22

WHat are the components of avaliability controls? (7)

Answer 22

1) Redundancy:
2) Fault Tolerance:
3) High Availability Architecture:
4) Monitoring and Alerting:
5) Capacity Planning:
6) Disaster Recovery Planning:
7) Service Level Agreements (SLAs):