BEC - Information Technology Flashcards by Jason Grant

BEC - Information Technology

Which IT personnel roles should always be segregated?

Operators

Programmers

Librarians

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What are the duties of a systems analyst?

Designs or purchases IT system

Responsible for flowcharts

Liaison between Users and Programmers

Note: Think IT Manager

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What is the primary duty of a Systems Administrator?

A Systems Administrator controls database access.

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What are the duties of a Systems Programmer?

Writes- Updates- Maintains- & Tests software- systems- and compilers

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Which duties should a Systems Programmer NOT have?

In order to maximize internal control- a Systems Programmer should NOT have application programming duties/abilities or be an Operator on the system.

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BEC - Information Technology

What are the duties of a Systems Operator?

Schedules and Monitors Jobs

Runs IT Help Desk

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What duties should a System Operator NOT have?

For internal control purposes- they should not be a Programmer on the system.

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If it is not possible to segregate duties in an IT System- what actions should be taken to compensate for internal control purposes?

Include Computer Logs.

Control Group should review the logs.

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What is the purpose of a Management Information System (MIS)?

To assist with decision making.

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What is an Accounting Information System (AIS)?

A type of Management Information System (MIS) that processes accounting transactions.

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What are the characteristics of an Executive Information System (EIS)?

Specialized for Company Executive needs

Assists with Strategy Only

No Decision-Making Capabilities

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What are the characteristics of an Expert System (ES)?

Computer uses reasoning

Structured

No human interpretation needed

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What are the characteristics of a Decision Support System (DSS)?

Computer provides data

Gives Interactive Support

Human interpretation needed

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What are the characteristics of an Ad Hoc computer report?

User initiates the report.

The report is created upon demand.

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When are Exception reports generated?

Exception reports are produced when Edit Tests- Check Digits- or Self-Checking Digits identify a problem

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What is a query?

A type of Ad Hoc report- initiated by a user.

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What is End-User Computing?

The User develops and executes their own application.

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What is the primary benefit of E-commerce?

E-commerce makes business transactions easier.

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What are the risks of E-commerce?

Compromised data or theft.

Less paper trail for auditors.

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What are the benefits of Electronic Data Interchange?

Uses globally-accepted standards

Efficient

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What is a File Server?

A file server stores shared programs and documents.

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What is the purpose of a Database?

Located on a File Server- a Database allows users to share documents.

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What is the purpose of a LAN (Local Area Network)?

It connects computers in close proximity.

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What is the purpose of a WAN (Wide Area Network)?

It connects computers that are far apart.

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# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of a VAN (Value-Added Network)?

Privately-owned Network Serves as 3rd Party Between 2 Companies Routes EDI Transactions Accepts wide range of Protocols Very Costly

# BEC - Information Technology What is the purpose of a Firewall?

Prevents unauthorized access to a network.

# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of a virus?

Takes over a computer Needs a host program to run

# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of a computer worm?

Takes over multiple computers Doesn't need a host program to run

# BEC - Information Technology What is the purpose of Automated Equipment Controls?

They prevent and detect hardware errors.

# BEC - Information Technology What is RAM?

Random Access Memory. Internal memory in the computer used during immediate processing.

# BEC - Information Technology What is a CPU?

Computer Processing Unit It processes commands within a computer.

# BEC - Information Technology What is Job Control Language?

It schedules and allocates system resources.

# BEC - Information Technology What are examples of input devices?

Keyboard Mouse Scanner Magnetic Ink Reader Magnetic Tape Reader EDI Point of Sale Scanner

# BEC - Information Technology What are examples of Output Devices?

Speakers Monitors Printers

# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of Magnetic Tape storage?

Sequential Access - Sorts data in order Slower data retrieval Header Label prevents Operator error by loading wrong tape External Labels prevent accidental destruction by operator

# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of Magnetic Disks?

Random Access - Finds data in random spots Faster data retrieval Uses Boundary Protection for data

# BEC - Information Technology What is a Gateway?

Connects one network to another Note: the Internet is connected by Gateways

# BEC - Information Technology What are Parity Checks?

A control that detects internal data errors. A bit is added to each character- it checks to see if a bit was lost.

# BEC - Information Technology What is an Echo Check?

Transmitted data is returned to the sender for verification (it echoes back to the sender)

# BEC - Information Technology What is a Change Control?

It authorizes program changes and approves program test results.

# BEC - Information Technology What is security software?

Software that controls access to IT systems. Note: Don't confuse this with anti-virus software

# BEC - Information Technology What is the purpose of a Digital Signature?

It confirms a message has not been altered.

# BEC - Information Technology List the types of computers from smallest to largest

PDA/Smartphone/Tablet Microcomputer - PC- Laptop (cost-effective) Minicomputer - Like a Mainframe- but smaller Mainframe - Large computer with terminals attached Supercomputer - Very powerful and very big

# BEC - Information Technology What are the units of computer data from smallest to largest?

Bit - 1 (on) and 0 (off) Byte - 8 bits to a byte/character Field - group of related characters/bytes (i.e. Name- Zip Code- Serial #) Record - Group of related fields (i.e. Member name- address- phone number) File - Group of related records (i.e. Membership directory)

# BEC - Information Technology What is the duty of a design engineer?

Determine language used for a specific computer- on a computer-to-computer basis

# BEC - Information Technology What are object programs?

Programs written in base computer language- not similar to English.

# BEC - Information Technology How can source programs be recognized?

They are written in a language close to English.

# BEC - Information Technology What is the purpose of a Compiler?

Takes Source language (English) and converts to Object (Computer) Language

# BEC - Information Technology How does Online Analytical Processing work?

It uses a Data Warehouse to support management decision making.

# BEC - Information Technology What is Data Mining?

Using artificial intelligence and pattern recognition to analyze data stores within a Data Warehouse.

# BEC - Information Technology What is the purpose of online transaction processing?

To process a company's routine transactions.

# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of batch processing?

Data held- updates multiple files all at once Leaves a better audit trail Uses Grandfather-Father-Son backup (3 levels of backup kept in 3 locations)

# BEC - Information Technology What does an output control check for?

Checks to see if output data is valid- distributed and used in an authorized manner.

# BEC - Information Technology What does a processing control check?

Checks if data processing produced proper output

# BEC - Information Technology What is a hash total?

An input control number- a meaningless sum of values included in the input. Example would be summing a list of SSNs to make sure the data is the same once entered as it was prior to input into the system.

# BEC - Information Technology What is a validity check?

Checks to see if data in existing tables or files belongs in the set For example- is there a # in an alpha-only field or a letter in a numeric-only field

# BEC - Information Technology What is a limit check?

Checks to see if numbers surpass a certain limit- i.e. in an age field is the number greater than 110.

# BEC - Information Technology What is a check digit?

An input control that adds an identification number to a set of digits - usually at the end

# BEC - Information Technology What is a field check?

An input check that prevents invalid characters- i.e. checks for alphabetic letters in a SSN field

# BEC - Information Technology What is a Hot Site?

A disaster recovery system where if the main system goes down- a Hot Site is ready to take over immediately.

# BEC - Information Technology What is a Cold Site?

If a main system goes down- a Cold Site will take time to get set up and running.

# BEC - Information Technology What is the most common database language?

SQL - Structured Query Language

# BEC - Information Technology What is a Data Definition Language?

Defines SQL Database Controls SQL Tables

# BEC - Information Technology What is a Data Manipulation Language?

Queries SQL Database tables

# BEC - Information Technology What is a Data Control Language?

Controls Access to SQL Database

# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of a Relational Database?

Logical structure Uses rows and columns similar to spreadsheet

# BEC - Information Technology What are the characteristics of a Hierarchical Database?

Has various levels Uses trees to store data

# BEC - Information Technology What are the advantages of a database?

Data is more accessible Reduced redundancy

# BEC - Information Technology What are the disadvantages of a database?

Cost of installation Skilled personnel required to maintain

# BEC - Information Technology What are the components of a database?

Desktop client Application Server Database Server Think: Your desktop computer runs applications and saves to a database