Technological Security

Losses from computer fraud and abuse are likely to have been substantial, and they continue to pose enormous potential risk. Nevertheless, technological advances have equipped the white hats with numerous effective countermeasures. Their response has continued to be diffused, however, because corporate executives do not believe that a significant risk exists, auditors have been loath to accept responsibility, and law enforcement officers are often averse to change. The answers to the problem lie in management awareness and in the managers' role as moral pacesetters within their organizations. The audit profession, currently in the throes of cataclysmic change, will adapt to public expectations, and information will be freely exchanged by the computer-using law enforcement officers. Universities will research perpetrators' motivations, their modus operandi, and the manner in which they can be detected-with the assistance of computerized data bases.