Day: July 31, 2015

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems automate and integrate the majority of a company’s business processes, producing consistency. They do this by sharing common data and practices across an organization, leveraging one-time data entry, and providing access to information in real time. To help in this working environment, ISACA recently released a go-to reference book for auditors that they can dog-ear with sticky note flags sticking out of the top and return to year after year.

Since the 1990s, businesses have been managing their operations with ERPs, which have enabled centralized control over operations by implementing a common data model and integrated business processes. SAP has been a leader in ERP systems from the beginning and uses a process-driven approach to match business processes with application processes.

SAP’s core product is SAP ERP (also called Enterprise Core Component [ECC] 6.0). SAP ERP is configurable and integrated across modules. This creates a system that is flexible but also complex. Because of the complexity and variability of configuration across industries, many companies are starting to use automated tools to assist in tracking and monitoring compliance. Systems such as SAP Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) are common in large organizations to monitor and manage on-going compliance. Information technology auditors are also finding that it takes an SAP-specific skillset to audit these systems. This knowledge is required to understand the risks and the controls that mitigate those risks.

The ISACA Security, Audit and Controls Features of SAP ERP 4^th Edition brings together detailed information related to SAP ERP-specific risks, controls, and testing procedures. The handbook is separated into modules that cover the risk and controls, followed by testing procedures for both configuration and security. The book was designed as a long-term reference guide for auditors working in an SAP environment—a handbook written by auditors for auditors.

The 4^th Edition provides an update of previous sections and adds sections for Finance, Controlling, Human Resources, and Security with a focus on SAP ECC 6.0. The handbook walks through each of these new sections in detail with the same methodology used to cover the other areas (risk, mitigating controls, and testing procedures). In addition, this latest version also comes with downloadable audit plans that are COBIT 5 compliant. It is nearly a completely new book!

The 4^th edition was a great opportunity for Deloitte Advisory and ISACA work jointly to rewrite and build upon a great foundation to produce a new edition that refreshes and expands the scope of the original book.

Ben Fitts
Deloitte Advisory

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[ISACA]

When governments routinely address cybersecurity as part of their policy, you know that the topic is of national interest. When vulnerabilities are found in—and researchers demonstrate attacks against—computer systems in medical devices, automobiles and airplanes, you know that the significance extends even farther.

While that kind of recognition is important for the profession as a whole and is certainly impactful, there’s another area in which cybersecurity is gaining interest that is arguably more impactful to most practitioners on a day-to-day basis: increase in cultural interest.

TV shows (e.g., CSI: Cyber, Mr. Robot) and movies (e.g., Blackhat) that popularize the topic serve to guide younger professionals toward the discipline. You know that the cultural awareness has been firmly established when a movie like The Duff (a lighthearted teenage comedy) both features a hacker as a main character and incorporates security as a significant plot point.

When it comes to talent retention and acquisition for those in (or running) a security organization, understanding that this phenomenon exists – and knowing how to get it working in your favor – can be part of a security manager’s broader plans.

Leveraging cultural interest

Junior roles in any organization are the hardest to fill. Why? Because leaders tend to have more experience than the candidates they seek to hire; as a consequence, the folks in their virtual “rolodex” are those that they’ve worked with or collaborated with in the past – i.e., those with (most likely) a similar amount of work experience to their own.

Moreover, the folks moving into those junior roles are those more likely to be newer to the workforce.  A recent study from the Brookings Institution found that 64% of millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) would prefer to make US $40,000 at a job they love (i.e., one they find interesting and engaging) vs. US $100,000 at a boring job. In other words, the work they value most is that which is most interesting. An increase in cultural interest on the topic of security means a corresponding uptick in the ability of security managers to find the best and brightest for their teams.  That said, it’s up to those same managers to retain them once they’re there.

This is where job rotation and cross-training within the organization can play a very beneficial role. Because, let’s face it, there are some jobs that are less interesting than others but still need to get done. Understanding that fulfillment and interest tie directly to employee satisfaction (and thereby attrition rate), periodically “refreshing” staff (sharing the load for those less interesting tasks) helps keep those folks from getting bored (and antsy to look outside the organization for more fulfilling work). Additionally, rotation of duties can help deepen internal understanding of the organization, cross-pollinate valuable skills and build a depth of experience for future leaders.

There’s a cultural phenomenon at work; at least for the moment, security has the interest of the media. The impact of this in the short term could mean an upcoming reduction in the pain we all feel as a result of the much-discussed security skills gap (an issue ISACA’s Cybersecurity Nexus [CSX] aims to address)—but for those thinking longer term, planning now for a way to hone, develop and retain those folks once they’re through the doors is time well spent.

Ed Moyle
Director of Emerging Business and Technology at ISACA

[ISACA]