October 2020
I have long been fascinated by the dynamics between internal audit and the audit committees to whom it reports. Let me say right up front that I believe the vast majority of audit committees are diligent in their oversight. However, as I first shared in a blog in 2015, there are too many instances where audit committees are populated with members who aren’t as conscientious as they should be in their oversight roles.
In Extraordinary Circumstances, Cynthia Cooper’s riveting account of internal audit’s role in unraveling the financial reporting fraud at WorldCom, she recounts the challenges she had in securing an audience with the company’s audit committee so that she could share the internal audit results.…
There is growing shock and concern over the suspicious deaths of four public-sector internal auditors in Liberia. While their violent deaths remain under investigation and there has been no formal finding of conspiracy or targeting, the losses have sent reverberations across the African nation and alarmed internal audit professionals around the world.
The victims, three from the Liberia Revenue Authority and one who served as head of the nation’s Internal Audit Agency, died in just over a week’s time. Their names should be burned into the consciousness of every member of our profession:
- Emmanuel Barten Nyeswua, director general, Liberia Internal Audit Agency
- Albert Peters, Liberia Revenue Authority
- Gifty Lama, Liberia Revenue Authority
- George F.
Cybersecurity remains one of the top and most vexing risks facing organizations large and small. Even as many in the global community face existential challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ever-evolving risk of cyberattacks continues to find new ways to challenge controls and processes. And it only promises to become even more of a threat.
As we begin National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in the United States, internal auditors worldwide should be reminded of the urgency to keep up with changes in this risk area. Cybersecurity touches virtually every aspect of our organizations, from data collection, protection, and privacy to security concerns about the ubiquitous home work environment created by the pandemic.…
As we enter the fourth quarter of a historically difficult and disruptive year, internal audit leaders around the world are looking to next year with some degree of trepidation. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that new risks can emerge at lightning speed and have profound impacts on our organizations and lives.
Finding some perspective on what the risk landscape will look like in 2021 poses a challenge, particularly because the pandemic continues to rage in many areas of the world, and there are continuing warnings about a second and possibly third wave of the deadly virus.…