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Running Head: DATABASE AUDITING AND MONITORING FIT WITHIN A SOX COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORK. 1

DATABASE AUDITING AND MONITORING FIT WITHIN A SOX COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORK 4

Database auditing and monitoring

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Database Auditing and Monitoring Fit Within a SOX Compliance Framework

Database auditing is the tracking of database, authority, and resources utilization precisely, recording, and actions monitoring of the database user. It also helps one to comply with increasingly demanding compliance. It involves observing a database to become aware of users of database actions. The administrators and consultants usually set up auditing for security to make sure that those who do not have permission to have access to data do not access it. When one audits a database, each data operation can be monitored and logged to an audit trail, which involves information on the database data recorded was interfered with, which account acted, and the time the activity occurred. The shareholders’ fraudulent practices and accounting errors in enterprises were safeguarded by the passed SOX act, the general public, and improve the accuracy of corporate disclosures. (NAWA, 2007) ‘The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is known as the Public Company Accounting Reform, and the Investor Protection Act is a United States federal law, which sets standards for all U.S. public company boards.’. The SOX publishes laws on requirements and also sets deadlines for compliance.

All organizations that are public now must abide by SOX on the I.T side and financial sides. The storage of corporate electronic records by I.T. departments changed as an outcome of SOX. This act does not specify the storage of documents by a company or establishes a set of business practices; it does not explain the length of the time for storage and which records should be stored. For a corporation to abide by SOX, it must save all the records for the business, including electronic messages and electronic records, for more than five years. The great plan of action for SOX compliance is to have controls of security that are correct in place to make sure that financial data is protected against loss and accuracy. Relying on the appropriate tools and developing best practices helps the business to reduce SOX management costs and automate SOX compliance. (Pilewski, 2010 “Sarbanes Oxley Advisory services can help an organization with the implementation and maintenance of sustainable SOX 404 compliance programs through readiness assessments, through documentation and testing assistance and sustainability assessment.”

Auditing and monitoring the database system is essential to address all five of the SOX regulations. A comprehensive auditing strategy tracks user activity, security changes, schema modifications, and other events that reveal potential and real threats to security. Detailed auditing is integral to meeting requirements for internal control and assessing those controls and their effectiveness determination. Even though this auditing level can affect resource requirements and performance, it must be utilized to its fullest to provide the necessary controls. The solutions for auditing are available in a significant database system of management and includes generating comprehensive reports ability and also to set up alerts. To abide with SOX, DBAs must make sure that integrity, and data security and environment. They must have effective monitoring to guarantee the protection that is ongoing and meet the internal control requirements. The law of SOX does not specify how to go about implementing all this., only that it needs to be done.

For most database teams, what law requires, much of it is consistent with management best practices they already have in place and security. Complying with the law of SOX can be a complicated process. And the database team should work closely with other organizations to make sure nothing slips through the cracks and that all regulations are met. Those involved in planning a compliance strategy must fully grasp how regulations work and the implications for being out of compliance. The Sarbanes Oxley Act for them to include a report on internal control they need financial statements. This illustrates that the organization’s information on the financial statement is correct, and proper controls are in place to safeguard financial information. A SOX auditor who is external independent requires to assess policies, procedures, and controls during the section of the audit. The audit will also regard personnel, and staff might be interviewed to confirm that their job descriptions rematch the staffs task and they hold needed training to access safely the finance data. (“SOX audits) ‘Auditors must ensure that the population and any sample have originated in the current fiscal year. Samples taken from the previous year cannot prove that the controls are effective at the time of the audit.’

A most significant component of the SOX compliance audit is to review an organization’s internal controls. They include all computers, electronic equipment, network hardware, and I.T. assets. Company’s complete yearly audit is mandated by SOX, and it makes those results suitable for any stakeholders. Independent auditors are hired to finish the SOX audits, which must be disunited from any other audit to anticipate a conflict of interest. The fundamental reason for the SOX compliance audit is the financial statement verification of a company. This auditor compares current statements to past statements and determines if everything is agreeable. They can also confirm that compliance controls are enough to maintain SOX compliance standards and interview personnel. As we conclude, we should know that SOX is a good business practice but not just a legal obligation. Organizations should restrict access to financial systems and behave ethically. The implication of SOX financial security controls has the side benefits of safeguarding the company for cyber attackers stealing their private data.

References

Pilewski, B. A. (2010). Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX): Compliance. Encyclopedia of Information Assurance, 2575-2581. doi:10.1081/e-eia-120046849

NAWA, K. (2007). Sequestered science and SOX act for scientific research. Journal of Information Processing and Management, 50(6), 367-368. doi:10.1241/johokanri.50.367

SOX audits. (n.d.). Internal Audit Handbook, 389-401. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-70887-2_22