What Is Enterprise Acrhitecture Essay - 1048 Words

What is Enterprise architecture? Enterprise Architecture is the link between strategy and implementation. It is a top down view of the structure of systems; it includes the fundamental organization of a system, embodied by its components, their relationships to each other and the environment, and the principles guiding its design. It can be defined as: A means for describing business structures and processes that connect business structures. www.sei.cmu.edu/architecture/glossary.html There are four areas that are commonly accepted as the components of the overall frame work. These are: †¢ Business Process. This includes strategy, governance, organisation, and key business processes. †¢ The Data. This describes the structure of†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Integration Realizing that the business rules are consistent across an organization, that the data and its use are immutable and information flow is standardized, and the connectivity and interoperability are managed across the enterprise. †¢ Change Facilitating and managing change to any area of the enterprise †¢ Time-to-market. Development can be speeded up and it also ensures that the selected solution is the â€Å"best fit† and allows for future growth in response to the business needs. It can also ensure that an organization is not tied to one particular vendor for a solution. Furthermore it can reduce costs by removing multiple parallel systems with one integrated system. It can also highlight opportunities for building greater quality and flexibility into applications without increasing cost. Finally, by looking at the business process it can identify new ways of thinking about how the process can be improved which in turn could provide some competitive advantage. â€Å"The primary purpose of Enterprise Architecture is to inform, guide, and constrain the decisions for the enterprise, especially those related to IT investments. The true challenge of enterprise engineering is to maintain the architecture as a primary authoritative resource for enterprise IT planning. This goal is not met via enforced policy, but by the value and utility of the information provided by the Enterprise Architecture.† Source: A Practical Guide to

The New Social Economic Order - 1216 Words

According to Kowalik, an economist of Polish origin and a witness to the signing of the Round Table Agreement, the agreement was a clear revolution from the previous economic policies. He argues that in the lines of thinking of the old socialist and the right-wing communists, the parties negotiating at the roundtable agreed to make strong the autonomy at the factory level. Apart from this, they also came up with more radical reforms. For example, there was the declaration of change from the administrative planning, to favor the use of economic levers to direct the economy. These led to more freedom in terms of prices and even created a leeway for making some state owned firms private. The new social-economic order also included an agreement for the formation of the Warsaw stock exchange. However, according to Kowalik, these radical reforms were just the beginning of the changes that were to come8 One of the major points that both the government and opposition agreed on was that it was of the utmost importance for reforms of the state to occur, â€Å"in accordance with the national raison d’à ©tat†via evolution. However, taking an evolutionary approach towards implementing change can be endangered by actions which are extreme or by the actions of â€Å"conservative opponents of reforms.†7 At the round table, there was an agreement between the government and Solidarity regarding the need for an evolutionary economic change in society. 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The Role of Accounting in Organizational Control Free Essays

string(60) " is being derived from the working of mechanical processes\." THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTING IN ORGANIZATIONAL CONTROL By: Abdur Rehman (IIUI) Table of Contents Introduction 3 Accounting4 Key Theories in Organizational Control6 * Key Theories8 Role of Accounting in Organization’s Control10 * Working of Control Theory at Workplace12 Conclusion13 References 14 online sources15 Introduction Accounting is the gathering and compilation of information for decision makers – including investors, managers, lenders, public and the regulators. Accounting schemes influence performance and management and have affects on organizations, departments, and even countries. Information controlled within an accounting scheme has the influence to manipulate actions. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Accounting in Organizational Control or any similar topic only for you Order Now Accounting information systems are largely strong behavioral drivers in the perspective of a corporation – where bottom line and profits are every day concerns. In this paper we will discuss the role of accounting plays in organizations control. Accounting has impact on each and every aspect of the organization from record keeping to manufacturing and from sales to further investment. It is accounting concepts and details in shape of Financial Accounting, Cost Accounting, Management Accounting or whatever you may call which gives insight of an organization for the stake holders to think and plan for future. Accounting prompt owners to expand, managers to plan, equity investors to invest, bankers to lend, tax officials to calculate and buyers to spend etc. we will briefly discuss different calculation concepts which are based on the accounting data which effect investment and leads to ultimate organizations control. Organizations are sets of agreements among ersons or groups who are aggravated by self-interest for the collection of resources and contribute to the information to achieve control in the organization. Accounting and control provides a similar utility in organizations. We shall try to highlight some control theories and role of accounting in up-coming pages. Accounting Accounting is the main means of serving managers of an organization, potential equity investors, creditors and bond holders, equity investors, creditors and bond holders of an organization, customers and suppliers of an organization and other stake holders to take decisions. Accounting is somewhat to facilitate people in their individual lives a lot as it affects organizations. We all use bookkeeping thoughts when we map what we are going to accomplish with our wealth. We have to chart out how much of it we will use and how much we will keep. We may engrave a chart, recognized as a financial plan, or we may merely maintain it in our minds. Though, when people usually talk about accounting it means the kind used by trade and other business organizations who also keep a record of it which is then used by different stakeholders including owners, buyers, investors, tax officials, banks etc. or a variety of rationales. (Frank Wood, 1997, p 4) Generally speaking Accounting can be defined as â€Å"distinguishing, manipulative and matching economic information to let well-informed selection and decision by users of the information. (Frank Wood, 1997, p 253) Accounting can also be defined as â€Å"the language of business† because it is the essential devi ce for recording, coverage, and evaluating economic proceedings and dealings that influence business ventures. Accounting procedures gather all the aspects of a business’s financial presentation including from capital expenses, payroll costs, and other responsibility to sales proceeds and owners’ equity. Financial data enclosed in accounting documents is then interpreted and used as essential in reaching to the actual picture of a business’s true financial comfort. Equipped with said meaningful knowledge, businesses can make suitable financial, managerial and strategic decisions about their future opportunities; on the other hand, unfinished or incorrect accounting data can destroy a company, no matter its volume or orientation. Accounting’s significance as an indicator of business health in provisions of precedent, current, and upcoming and tool of business steering is replicated in the language of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), which distinct accounting as a â€Å"service activity. † Accounting, said the AICPA, is projected â€Å"to provide quantitative information, largely financial in character, about economic actions that are intentional to be helpful in reaching at economic decisions, making logical choices among alternative courses of action. † Key Theories in Organizational Control Organizations are sets of agreements among persons or groups who are aggravated by self-interest for the collection of resources and contribute to the information to achieve control in the organization. All wonders of the world are physical substance which we could see or touch. Civilization has always calculated the deeds of its evolutions by â€Å"hardware,† from the Pyramids to the Great Wall of China. But, the truth is that world is never ruled by the brilliant engineers rather these greatest achievements of human kind are due to the organization who made these Pyramids or the Great Wall possible. Similarly bravery of Alexander the Great is legend, but it was organizational skill that made him so great his skills with the sword or horse. Organization plan and process are the unacknowledged â€Å"software† of human evolution. Combining a lot of individuals for a common purpose is virtually impossible in-spite of their engineering skills without such software when those individuals are free to select and proceed for their own goals. Accounting and control are the key factors in organization in terms of how they are put together, function, sustain, transformed, and suspend. Recurring to the computer symbol, if humans and capital are the hardware of organizations, accounting and control are their operating software. Software unites different parts of the computer in their proper association, and makes it possible to function. Accounting and control provides a similar utility in organizations. Considering organizations as a group of agreements among people crafts it easier to see the enabling utility of accounting and control. As organizations are in hundreds of sizes and forms, so the same exists for accounting and control systems. A broad survey of their mixture and degree is a fine starting point to construct a theory of accounting and control in organizations. A distinct feature of control theory as compare to other personal theories is that it is being derived from the working of mechanical processes. You read "The Role of Accounting in Organizational Control" in category "Papers" Current modern control theory was originated by Norbet Wiener’s 1948 Cybernetics. Initially it was applied to physical systems however same was applicable to human behavior. It connects multiple disciplines like mathematics, neurophysiology, anthropology, psychology, biology, electrical engineering, etc. t has the capacity to link all such field combine to describe how a system work as a whole. Same is done by dividing the system into specific pieces and studying the relations and connections among them. For the control theory to be applicable on humans, it is important to show that same kind of direct similarities exists a mong the concepts linked with machines that can also be associated with humans. Certain assumptions are required for control theory to work including; I. Human beings have a system in themselves II. Society has also a system III. These systems are self amendable This overview shows a simple and easy look of control theory, however the functioning of the theory is quite complex in reality. Therefore, it is necessary to outline and review the components for a greater considerate as well as to be able to relate the theory in helpful, practical, and appropriate ways. Researchers have recognized that control processes are the main and essential ways in which organizations work. As control theory exploration ranges on many years and based on a number of rich customs, hypothetical limits have reserved it from producing reliable and interpretable practical conclusions and from reaching agreement relating to the character of key associations. However it reveals that we can overcome such problems by synthesizing varied, yet matching, flow of control researches into an academic framework and experiential tests that can more explain the variety of control methods (e. g. the use of norms, rules, monitoring or direct supervision) meant for specific control targets (e. . behavior, input, output etc. ) are applied within specific kinds of control systems (i. e. integrative, bureaucracy, clan, market). Before going into further details, firstly we shall look upon the characteristics of an effective control system. Any organization must develop control systems which contribute to the organizational goals and resources. There are several characteristics, some of which ar e described as below; I. Focus on vital points: Vital points include all the fields of an organization’s operations that directly contribute to the success of its operations. For example, controls must be applied where costs can’t be exceeded from a certain amount. II. Incorporation into recognized procedures: For effective controls, procedures must be in line and not disturb operations. III. Acceptance by internal customers: Involvement of employee during making of control design increase its acceptance among internal customers. IV. Timely availability of information: Project costs, deadlines, time period to complete the project, associated costs, priority, etc. must be available in devising any control mechanism. Any deviation or uninformed workers mostly contribute for failures. V. Economic feasibility: Effective organization control systems gave answers to questions such as, â€Å"What it costs? † â€Å"How much it saves? † or â€Å"What is the return on the investment? † Shortly, comparison of costs with benefits guarantees that the payback of controls prevail over the costs. VI. Correctness: Efficient control systems give truthful information which is valid, reliable, consistent and useful. VII. Unambiguousness: Controls must be easy and simple to recognize. Control Theory is somewhat difficult to recognize in a hypothetical wisdom and trying to use it for the examination or relevance for problem solving in actual world conditions is likewise complex. Control theory has some similarity with goal setting theory, but this similarity is a more complex as it can help us to link and understood concepts easily with the more complicated aspects of Control Theory, but at the same time it causes confusion on the requirement or utilization of Control Theory. Similarly, jargons used in Control Theory is absent in other similar theories which may become a source of confusion. Furthermore, Control Theory may looks to be like goal setting theory, however many people have expressed their concern that control theory is more mechanistic to be applied to humans. When examining Control Theory, it must be helpful to kept in mind the similarities, but at the same time linking of concepts must also be kept examined along-with conditions or theory apparatus with care as they may become the basis for more perplexity than the advantage such comparisons produce. Simply Control Theory is a theory in itself, not just Goal Setting Theory. Below are the Key Theories of Organizational Control. Key Theories Baligaand Jaeger (1984) relates control to procedures â€Å"where a person / group or organization decide or deliberately influence what the other person, group or organization will do†. In their words, the monitoring process is at the center of control because in such situation targets are set and performance is evaluated. Control is required in order to make people act according to the best interest of the organization. Ouchi (1979) and his colleagues developed the dominant key theory of organization control which forecasts the option among control methods as a utility of the task perspective. Ouchi divides control mechanisms into three categories: markets, bureaucracies and clans. However it has two limitations; I. It predicts the options of control alternates but not the effect of those alternates on performance. II. It restricts those choices to a single control alternate in a specific context and do not allow the choice of a combination or portfolio of control alternates. Merchant’s (1985) define three parts classification where results and action controls looks like to some degree of bureaucratic controls and clan controls overlap with social controls. Results control is normally discussed in financial results whereas action controls include physical and administrative behavioral restraint. Social group influence, preparation, individual self-control, rewards as well as assortment and appointment procedures comprise of personnel controls. Simons (1995) has divided in four categories for control systems including use, Beliefs and boundary systems and diagnostic and interactive control. From such division, diagnostic controls looks like the traditional results controls or accounting, where measures may be non-financial. However, accounting information can also be used by the managers interactively through highlighting the most important events in usual interaction with subordinates. Boundary systems can be taken somewhat similar to action controls, and Merchant’s (1985) social controls can comprise of belief systems, which are a form of positive control posing no limitations but presenting possibility for prospect development. Klein explains the integrated control theory which defines that adding cognitive communication between the comparator and the effecter. Moreover it is the communication among the two which depicts that in human’s the sensor, principles, or behavior and not a set piece. Given below is the list of the main components of the integrated control theory model. I. Goal II. Behavior III. Performance IV. Feedback (Sensor) V. Comparator VI. Error VII. Attribution Search VIII. Subjective Expected Utility of Goal Attainment IX. Individual and Situational Characteristics, Goal Choice and Cognitive Change X. Behavior Change Role of Accounting in Organization’s Control Although management control encompasses a broad range of mechanisms and practices besides accounting, however accounting form an essential element of the control systems. Accounting can waive off the gap between a headquarters and its subsidiaries, as it is a communication which can make local problems a global substance Therefore, accounting explains operations making performance evident and consequently handy. However, the accountability system is habitually quite a means for headquarters to keep an eye on and get involved in subsidiaries’ dealings than a means to chart the subsidiaries according to their individual judgment. This means that accounting also produces and constructs distance in stipulations of gap and time by signifying the accountability structures. In addition, accounting can defend a subsidiary in opposition to the headquarters as long as the exposure necessities are correctly met. Accounting and control systems plays an important role in acquisitions and mergers which is mainly used to expand business to foreign countries. In the words of Jones (1985) accounting controls may be of significant importance during the initial phase of the business after an acquisition. According to him, a lot of changes in accounting systems and control may cause a negative impact and results in undesirable outcomes. Granlund (2003) suggests that accounting system acts as important factor in a merger, as an integrator of the organizations. However Roberts (1990), advises that accounting controls may impede the development of a profitable longer term strategy. In a business’s accounting system when the reports are prepared in different formats and essential data is maneuver or recapitulate in different customs to make possible decision making. Accountants unite these data objects in a variety of ways to give information to internal as well as external users. Said data holds information potentially pertinent to a wide range of groups. Along-with business owners, who depend on accounting data to measure their enterprise’s financial development, accounting data can convey relevant and important information to creditors, investors, managers, and others who coordinate with the business. Accounting is mainly used for three major purposes; I. External reporting: these reports are used by the creditors, investors, outside parties and government authorities. II. Routine internal reporting: Periodically generated reports which are used by the managers to take internal decisions. III. Non-routine internal reporting: Such kind of reports is generated to support decisions and different projects which come-up due to need. It is pertinent to mention that while origination of different kind of reports by using different formats, basic is summarized and manipulated to facilitate for decision making. However accounting can be broadly divided into following distinct divisions: * Financial Accounting * Management Accounting Financial accounting is a branch of accounting that provides people outside the business—such as investors or loan officers—with qualitative information regarding an enterprise’s economic resources, obligations, financial performance, and cash flow. Financial accounting measures and records business transactions and provides financial statements that are based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Executive compensation is tied to profit figures reported in the financial statements and equity share valuation is also based to a large extent on these financial statements. Management accounting, on the other hand, refers to accounting data used by business owners, supervisors, and other employees of a business to measure their enterprises’ strength and operating styles. Management accounting as a discipline focuses on accounting information that facilitates decision making by managers of the organization. Accounting data is also used in Cost Accounting which is defined as a type of accounting procedure that  aspire to incarcerate a company’s expenses of manufacture by appraising the contribution costs of every step of manufacture as well as predetermined or fixed costs such as depreciation in capital equipment. Cost accounting firstly gauge and witness these costs independently, then make a contrast of input results to output or actual results to aid company management in measuring financial performance. Accounting has many roles in today’s modern business. It helps business to determine the profit or loss for doing business in a specific time period. It helps businesses to determine the taxes which become due. Accounting is information which is used by the investors to decide whether to invest in a specific firm or not. In current world, standard accounting practices commonly known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are used to ensure compliance to all laws and to avoid fraud. From the basic accounting principles, it includes balance sheet equation of assets =  liabilities + stockholder’s equity where source of information for the balance sheet is the income statement which is derives by revenues – expenses = net income (loss). Such data is used to prepare financial statements including statement of retained earnings. These financial accounting reports work as barometer to identify the taxes along with other ratios which are used by the investors including current ratio, debt to total assets ratio. All of these reports contribute an important role in today’s businesses irrespective of the fact that whether it may be a multi-billion dollar organization or a small store. These financial reports are not only helpful in providing valuable information to the investors but also gave a snap shot of the business to the owners at any point in time. Working of Control Theory at Workplace Control theory has multiple applications at workplace. For example, to improve employee working, managers must ensure to have specific and challenging goals which result in improved performance than ambiguous goals. Vague goals like â€Å"try harder† or â€Å"do your best† give no fine relative standard and through feedback. With no specific standard and apparent opinion, an employee will not be able to identify errors and then will not employ in behavior alteration that improves performance. Conclusion Accounting is related with gathering, examining and corresponding economic information. Accounting information supports in many important decisions, like assisting users in making well managed decisions, in relation to the effective allocation of scarce resources. Accounting has a long history and it is being seen as socially constructed i. e. it is practiced by people for people and therefore it is more of an art rather than a science. Unlike other professions, which have a body of hypothetical knowledge to depend on to make choices, accounting has evolved as a craft with few rules and little to no theoretical knowledge underpinning its practice and function. Due to alteration in social and economic movement, accounting has been bared to criticism for failing to be more responsive and adaptable. As a result the profession has moved forward to restore accountings position in society by taking a number of initiatives to put into practice theory. How to cite The Role of Accounting in Organizational Control, Papers

College Admissions My Temporary Disability Essay Example For Students

College Admissions: My Temporary Disability Essay College Admissions Essays My Temporary Disability Go! I was ahead of the others after clearing the first hurdle when something distracted me. I lost my concentration and didnt see the next hurdle. At the last second I attempted to jump over it. I was going too fast and hit the hurdle. My arms got caught beneath me when I landed. I immediately knew something was wrong. I was seeing white, but pushed myself up and finished the race. I was drifting in and out of consciousness on the way to the hospital. A nurse and some assistants put me on a stretcher, and carried me into the emergency room. Hours later I emerged from the hospital with both arms in casts; my right, past my elbow; my left, past my wrist. I was able to perform the basic life functions, but the surgeon warned me not to use my left arm, because the bones could move. For the first few days, I could still remember the pain, and didnt move my left arm. Even though I knew better, my restraint fell to the convenience of having my left arm mobile, and I began to use it more and more. I had to have my left arm re-broken and put into a full cast. I had to learn how to do everything over again, even eating and dressing. I learned what disabled people go through every day of their life. It was so frustrating that things that had been so easy had become so hard. It is amazing how people with disabilities have enough strength to propel them through such daily torment. I learned firsthand how much strength it takes to face these challenges. Anyone who experiences that will feel only compassion and comradeship for anyone in the same position. Perhaps if we recognized our own weaknesses, we could have something in common: the struggle to be a better person. .

White paper on Information security systems free essay sample

Over the past decade Panther Industries has been providing banks worldwide with safe banking solutions and protection against cybercriminals. However with 128 million malware programs written each year1, banking institutions are only becoming more vulnerable to the threats of cyber-attacks. So it is no surprise that Panther Industries – a world leader in web-banking technology has itself become a target of these emerging threats. More specifically our systems have recently faced attacks from two newer forms of security threats namely ‘Man in the browser’ (MITB) and ‘Man in the middle’ (MITB) – two Trojan horse type programs. These two threats work by altering the confidential banking data of the users and Panther Industries’ security mechanism. MITB has targeted the two most widely used browsers – IE and Firefox by modifying their web assembly structure and stealing user information such as passwords. MITM implements a similar technique of ‘phishing’ by intruding verification and redirecting bank customers to a counterfeit server which captures the sensitive information. We will write a custom essay sample on White paper on Information security systems or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To retain clients’ confidence in Panther Industries strong authentication and transaction verification techniques need to be implemented to prevent fraud and identity theft. This white paper details the nature of MITB and MITM attacks and their ability to intercept and modify an online banking transaction. As a protection against these threats this paper also offers as a solution the use of mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) as software tokens to generate unique Digital Signatures that will lend security and authenticity to browser-based transactions. With the ever-increasing advancements in next generation mobile commerce and smartphone technology, this solution is not only secure but also convenient. Another solution proposed in this paper is the creation of VPS or Virtual Private Sessions wherein the server sends a confirmation to the user which the user must approve for the transaction to be processed. 2. System Description The software architecture at Panther Industries is designed to provide stable enterprise functionality with a host interface that integrates with a back-end with in real-time. This architecture provides the convenience of defining and executing business functions through more than one customer channels. The first tier of the software architecture is the user interface which is simply the web browser such as IE or Firefox used by the bank customers to sign-in to their online banking account. Our banking clients require no special installation for this. The second tier is a PHP based secure application server that offers enterprise level application. At Panther Industries PHP and not HTML was chosen for scripting as it is the most popular web development language which is used and recommended by IBM, Oracle, HP and many other technology leaders. PHP is a simple, flexible yet powerful and accessible programming language suited for coding and executing web applications. At Panther Industries PHP has been the lead scripting language used for integrating banking functions and data from a range of existing systems and applications. The third tier consists of a database server which Panther Industries has developed per ANSI 92 industry standard to be deployed on highly scalable database engines such as Oracle and MySQL. The software platform finds three ways of deployment namely centralized, distributed (inside) and distributed (outside). In the centralized form of deployment, the central database could be accessed via a single point with the same control panel for all system administrators and bank managers. When deployed as distributed (inside), the system supports head offices as well as branches. The system administrator module, back office and the primary servers – application server and database server are located in the head office with each branch retaining its own copy. In the database (outside) type of deployment the two primary servers are installed on the tenanted facilities and on the network of the data center which is located outside the bank. This use of this software platform at Panther Industries is two-fold. It is used by personal and corporate clients as well as the bank employees. The client registration process consists of two stages. The first stage is the preliminary registration wherein the client fills out the personal details on the registration page which generates open and private keys for further use. Upon acceptance of the bank service agreement the client’s user account is made active by the administrator. From that point on, the client can access and analyze various banking documents online. All the documents and records accessed by the client are archived and business continuity is ensured as per the service agreement. The system permanently removes all of the client’s financial information in case the service agreement is terminated. The other users of this are the bank employees namely the System Administrator (SA), Branch Administrator (BA), Bank Manager (BM) and Technical Administrator (TA). The SA acts as the supervisor for the system by registering all the bank employees and managing the user accounts. The control panel provides the SA with analytical and statistical reports about the bank activity. The BA administers the managers and clients’ user accounts, assigns a bank manager for each account and schedules and synchronizes system operation. The BM is primarily responsible for processing clients’ financial documents, check for the accuracy of client’s activity and respond to client requests via mail. The TA is responsible for the overall monitoring, administrating and configuring the system. 3. System Strengths and Weaknesses 3. 1 System strengths The software architecture at Panther Industries is designed to provide stable enterprise via a robust front-end architecture and with real-time integration with back-end systems via a host interface. To proactively manage cyber-security risks Panther Industries provides its clients with the following security tools: 1. Data encryption: Latest encryption techniques such as 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) are followed to ensure a secure transmission of data. 128-bit SSL ensures that the customer is communicating with the bank’s website and not another computer impersonating the customer. This type of encryption also scrambles the sensitive data so that it cannot be read by hackers. At 128 bits, the data can be encrypted using 288 times the number of combinations as compared to a standard 40-bit encryption making this encryption a trillion times stronger5. Panther Industries provides the technology to our clients to offer this encryption to 99. 99% of their customers. Lastly 128-bit encryption ensures that no data was altered or tampered with during transmission. 2. Session handling: To heighten cyber-security, Panther industries also provides its clients with session handling wherein the application server creates and assigns a new and unique session id after a successful user authorization. In this technique the session identifiers ensure that can each customer is working with their own financial information. 3. Logging: Via this technique Panther Industries provides its clients an ability to log all customer and employee activity such as IP addresses, sessions etc. The log history generated via this technique provides for efficient supervisory and archival control. 3. 2 System weaknesses Despite of the strong security measures it provides, the system suffers from some weaknesses which can result in a compromise of customer’s financial data. More specifically the system is not secured against most recent and emerging threats as we have experienced recently – the MITB and MITM referenced in section 1. These two forms of attacks bypass the authentication measures by installing a false sense of security. What makes these hard to detect is the fact that they use authenticated sessions to piggyback on. The authentication techniques used at Panther Industries can successfully prevent attacks wherein hackers are trying to impersonate or are trying to steal identity. But since authenticated sessions are used by hackers that deploy MITB or MITM, our authentication techniques cannot prevent these forms of attacks. Another characteristic of these attacks is that they relay legitimate verified credentials in the real-time. Since these are validated credentials, they are able to successfully fool the user-session tokens created on the server. This technique buys the hacker 30-60 seconds – enough time to steal sensitive information such as passwords. 4. System protection options To provide our banking clients with a robust approach to tackle these emerging threats, we have outlined a few protection options in this section. 4. 1 Protection from Man-In-The-Browser attack 1. Digital signatures: To offer protection to the customers from a Man-In-The-Browser attack we need to (i) ensure the integrity of the transactional data between the bank and the customer and (ii) offer a higher degree of authentication to the transactions. So to successfully curb this form of attack we need to discontinue the use of a browser as a means to conduct transactions and even detect the variation in the transactions. This will take away the medium that hackers use to mount the attack in the first place. This can be achieved by offering digital signatures which can be used to sign digital PDF forms rather than conventional web-based HTML or PHP forms. So when the customer clicks the submit button the information travels via a PDF form which is digitally signed by him. The submitted information, therefore, is never exposed to the browser environment and therefore cannot be intercepted by the MITB technique. 2. Creation of Virtual Private Sessions: As the name suggests Virtual Private Sessions (VPS) are virtual sessions created with the end-user wherein the server alerts the user of any modifications made to a transaction. The transaction goes through only if the user approves it. The duration of such a session is very small and expires in 30 seconds, which doesn’t give the interceptor enough time to capture, alter or modify the data. 4. 2 Protection from Main-In-The-Middle attack To prevent the MITM attacks we propose the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology. In this technique, a challenge protocol is used to ensure a safe and authenticated transaction between the customer and the bank portal. The challenge protocol helps the PKI to validate the website which is requesting the authentication is the bank’s website which issued them in the first place. This validation is done automatically and will thwart any username and password requests made via an unverified URL. 5. Risk mitigation strategies The risk management strategies to mitigate any risks that arise from the MITB and MITM attacks primarily consist of educating our client about the constantly changing landscape of the cyber-security for online banking operations and the solutions that we offer via our technology. This will help the banking institutions that use our software platform to have a clear strategy in offering their customers a safe and secure online banking experience. The checklist should include the following best practices for online banking for the bank employees to prevent fraud: (i) Most current versions of anti-virus programs as well as firewall should be installed on all computers. (ii) A designated network engineer should be tasked with the responsibility of regularly updating the bank software (iii) Disable the services and / or conduits that are not in use (iv) Provide limited access to the internet to abate the risk of connecting to a malicious website (v) Not all employees should have the ‘administrator privileges’ on the computers. Such privileges should only be granted to system administrator or higher management. (vi) Make sure that the employees have scanned their mobile devices before connecting them to the banking software. (vii) Bank employees should make use of an email client that block the most commonly used email attachments which are used by hackers to install a malware on any computer. (viii) A reputable pop-up blocker should be installed on all computers. (ix) Internal bank documents used by employees are always the most recent and virus-free. (x) Unusually high transactions should be immediately brought to the attention of upper management. (xi) Banks should encourage their customers to check their account balance daily so that they can detect any suspicious transaction on their account at an early stage. (xii) Ensure that all bank employees have a high-level of awareness and follow good security practices overall. 6. Conclusion We need to acknowledge the sophistication of the Man-In-The-Browser (MITB) and Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks that clients of Panther Industries can face. Despite the secure authentication and encryption techniques that Panther Industries has developed, these malware programs can steal identity and create a financial fraud in the banking sector by combining a Trojan horse program with phishing. To retain our clients’ confidence, Panther Industries has to develop new technologies to stay a step ahead of these cyber-threats. To counter the threats presented by MITB and MITM, Panther Industries should provide its clients with multi-tier authentication and digital signature technology described in section 4. The digital signature is created by encrypting the customer’s private key and associating the transactional data with it. The bank’s system validates the same and compares it with the user’s decrypted public key and authorizes the transaction. All in all clients of Panther Industries stand to benefit a lot by deploying the solutions outlined in this white paper while still offering the current ease use for their customers. 7. References

Meet the Nubian Pharaohs of Twenty-Fifth Dynasty Egypt

Meet the Nubian Pharaohs of Twenty-Fifth Dynasty Egypt By the chaotic  Third Intermediate Period  in Egypt, which came the in the first half of the first millennium B.C., a lot of local rulers were battling it out for control of the Two Lands. But before the Assyrians and Persians made Kemet their own, there was a final resurgence of culture and classic Egyptian iconography from their neighbors to the south in Nubia, who made this spot their own. Meet the fantastic pharaohs of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. Enter Stage Egypt At this time, Egypts decentralized power structure allowed one powerful individual to sweep in and take control, as a Nubian king named Piye (ruled c. 747 to 716 B.C.) did. Located to the south of Egypt in modern Sudan, Nubia was intermittently ruled by Egypt over the millennia, but it was also a land full of fascinating history and culture. The Nubian kingdom of Kush was alternately centered at Napata or Meroe; both sites exhibit Nubian and Egyptian influences on their religious and funerary monuments. Just take a look at the pyramids of Meroe or the Temple of Amun at Gebel Barkal, and it was Amun who was the god of pharaohs. At a victory stele set up at Gebel Barkal, Piye portrays himself as an Egyptian pharaoh who justified his conquest by acting as a truly pious monarch whose rule was favored by the patron deity of Egypt. He slowly moved his military power northward over several decades, all while solidifying his reputation as a pious prince with the elite in the religious capital of Thebes. He encouraged his soldiers to pray to Amun on his behalf, according to the stele; Amun listened and allowed Piye to make Egypt his own by the late eighth century B.C. Unusually, once Piye conquered all of Egypt, he went home to Kush, where he died in 716 B.C. Taharqas Triumphs Piye  was succeeded as pharaoh and king of Kush by his brother, Shabaka (ruled c. 716 to 697 B.C.). Shabaka continued his familys project of religious restoration, adding on to Amuns great temple at Karnak, as well as sanctuaries at Luxor and Medinet Habu. Perhaps his most famous legacy is the Shabaka Stone, an ancient religious text that the pious pharaoh claimed to have restored. Shabaka also re-established the ancient priesthood of Amun at Thebes, appointing his son to the position. After a brief, if unremarkable, reign by a relative named Shebitqo, Piyes son Taharqa  (ruled c. 690 to 664 B.C.)  took the throne. Taharqa embarked on a truly ambitious building program worthy of any of his New Kingdom predecessors. At Karnak, he built four majestic gateways  at the temples four cardinal points, along with many rows of columns and colonnades; he added to the already beautiful Gebel Barkal temple and built new sanctuaries across Kush to honor Amun. By becoming a builder-king like the great monarchs of yore (such as Amenhotep III), Taharqa both established his pharaonic credentials. Taharqa also pressed Egypts northern boundaries as his predecessors had done. He reached out to create friendly alliances with Levantine cities like Tyre and Sidon, which, in turn, provoked the rival Assyrians. In 674 B.C., the Assyrians attempted to invade Egypt, but Taharqa was able to repel them (this time); the Assyrians were successful in taking Egypt in 671 B.C. But, during this series of back-and-forth conquests and tossing out of the invaders, Taharqa died. His heir, Tanwetamani (ruled c. 664 to 656 B.C.), didnt hold out long against the Assyrians, who sacked the treasures of Amun when they captured Thebes. The Assyrians appointed puppet ruler named Psamtik I to reign over Egypt, and Tanwetamani ruled concurrently with him. The final Kushite pharaoh was at least nominally acknowledged as pharaoh until 656 B.C. when it became clear Psamtik (who later expelled his Assyrian patrons from Egypt) was in charge.

The balance of payments is the main measure of import and exports in Essay

The balance of payments is the main measure of import and exports in the UK. For some years the balance of payment s has been in - Essay Example Additionally, an accurate balance of payment deficit must make provisions for errors and omissions to account for the missed out data. When there is a disequilibria in the balance of payments as a result of certain sections of the balance of payments being in deficit, then we can conclude that an economy’s balance of payments is deficit. This in most cases occurs with respect to deficits in a countries and to a smaller extent trade deficits. This is theoretically explained by the fact that for equilibrium to be reached, there must be a balance between capital/ current accounts values and the financial account. This therefore explains the UK situation is that if there is a deficit in current account then there must be a surplus on the capital/financial account (Nikolas 2010, p. 59). The ever persistent UK current account deficit can be traced to mid-1980s with a review of the current account revealing that the imports of goods and services exceed their exports. A critical revie w of the values of balance of payment account observed from the first quarter of the year 2000 to the last quarter of this year show a deteriorating current account. The study reveals a current deficit of over 12 billion pounds as at the last quarter of 2012 translating to a 3.2% of the GDP. ... This is majorly attributed to the process of de-industrialisation which accelerated in the early 1980s. A growth in consumer spending that UK been experiencing is majorly as a result of rapid increase in the imports leading to the worsening of the current account. Looking at the 1980s boom, it is evident that the fall in the rate of savings and the resulting rise in the consumer spending of the UK citizens led to the record deficit in current accounts. On the other hand, the recession experienced in 1991 which resulted to the consequent improvement in the current account improvement and subsequent falling in the spending on imports (Guillermo 1978). Another important reason that can be attributed to the deficit in balance of payments is the overvalued exchange rates. This, apart from, other countries like Spain, Greece and Portugal can be attributed to the large account deficits in the countries as it makes exports from the countries more expensive in the international markets while the imports becomes cheaper. This is a motivation to the local consumers to purchase of the imports which are relatively cheap while on the other hand making the market tougher for the exporters since it makes them uncompetitive in the market compared to exporters from other countries. With overvalued exchange rate, there are expectations of general competitiveness in amongst various firms. A decline in relative competitiveness coupled with rising costs, poor quality of goods and industrial unrests which results to difficulties in making exportations which causes deterioration of the current account of the UK (Stijn 1988). Various economists have attribute