A framework for detecting financial statement fraud through multiple data sources

This project deals with how to detect fraud and non-compliance in financial statements in the present day in one of the biggest economies in the world, the U.S. Since it is mainly public companies that release detailed financial infor-mation, they are the focus. This project focuses on the top five market sectors where fraud is most common. It focuses on a variety of fraud types, but not on cases of deception that do not constitute fraud. A framework will be proposed which ac-counts for both structured data (the numbers in the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement) and unstruc-tured data (the footnotes in these financial statements). It uses ontology-driven data mining techniques to do so

Exploiting extensible background knowledge for clustering-based automatic keyphrase extraction

Keyphrases are single- or multi-word phrases that are used to describe the essential content of a document. Utilizing an external knowledge source such as WordNet is often used in keyphrase extraction methods to obtain relation information about terms and thus improves the result, but the drawback is that a sole knowledge source is often limited. This problem is identified as the coverage limitation problem. In this paper, we introduce SemCluster, a clustering-based unsupervised keyphrase extraction method that addresses the coverage limitation problem by using an extensible approach that integrates an internal ontology (i.e., WordNet) with other knowledge sources to gain a wider background knowledge. SemCluster is evaluated against three unsupervised methods, TextRank, ExpandRank, and KeyCluster, and under the F1-measure metric. The evaluation results demonstrate that SemCluster has better accuracy and computational efficiency and is more robust when dealing with documents from different domains

Perceived information technology risks and attitudes

Risk has been a focal dimension in much of the debate about attitudes toward technology. In the present paper, the development of research on risk perception is reviewed, from its beginnings in the end of the 1960's. The received view on factors in risk perception is that of the psychometric model and social trust. It is pointed out that this approach gives only an incomplete understanding of risk and risk acceptance, and some missing elements are delineated, such as Tampering with Nature, which is an important factor in technology acceptance, and trust (or distrust) in science, and the embracing of alternative views on the nature of the world and knowledge (New Age). Several methodological points are also important. Risks should be studied with regard to one’s own personal (personal risk), and to others (general risk), because these dimensions often differ and they have different implications. It should also be observed that the most important risk aspect is severity of consequences of unwanted events or accidents, not their probability. When it comes to attitudes toward technology it is argued that the replaceability of a technology is an important factor. IT risks have been investigated in a major survey carried out with a representative sample of the Swedish population. The main finding was that IT risks were seen as pertinent mainly to others, implying that people (rightly or wrongly) perceived that they could protect themselves from IT risks. IT risks are finally regarded in the light of Stigma Theory, which has been devised to understand some social and political reactions to risks, and it is held that it is unlikely that IT will become a stigmatized technology, partly because it is seen as irreplaceable. Yet, many IT risks are very real and many people are aware of them. In particular, personal integrity is threatened and the very novelty of the technology involved is probably the cause why ethical and legal developments lag far behind. Initial one-sided positive statements about IT are likely to be followed by more sober assessments of this technology which brings many blessings but also an increasing number of serious risks.risk perception; information technology; attitudes toward technology

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research

CHORUS Deliverable 2.2: Second report - identification of multi-disciplinary key issues for gap analysis toward EU multimedia search engines roadmap

After addressing the state-of-the-art during the first year of Chorus and establishing the existing landscape in multimedia search engines, we have identified and analyzed gaps within European research effort during our second year. In this period we focused on three directions, notably technological issues, user-centred issues and use-cases and socio- economic and legal aspects. These were assessed by two central studies: firstly, a concerted vision of functional breakdown of generic multimedia search engine, and secondly, a representative use-cases descriptions with the related discussion on requirement for technological challenges. Both studies have been carried out in cooperation and consultation with the community at large through EC concertation meetings (multimedia search engines cluster), several meetings with our Think-Tank, presentations in international conferences, and surveys addressed to EU projects coordinators as well as National initiatives coordinators. Based on the obtained feedback we identified two types of gaps, namely core technological gaps that involve research challenges, and “enablers”, which are not necessarily technical research challenges, but have impact on innovation progress. New socio-economic trends are presented as well as emerging legal challenges

Accounting Information Systems (AIS) Course Design: Current Practices and Future Trajectories

The accounting information systems (AIS) course is a core component of most accounting programs, but what it typically covers and how it’s typically taught is as varied as the number of instructors. As the AACSB Standard A7 indicates: “accounting degree programs include learning experiences that develop skills and knowledge related to the integration of information technology in accounting and business”. In this panel presentation, we looked at the approach of five experienced AIS instructors and compared and contrasted them. We highlight lessons learned and best practices

Assessment of Employees’ Perceptions on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Practices and Correlation with Organisational Cybersecurity Maturity

The purpose of this study was to assess employees’ perceptions of anti-money laundering practices at the National Development Bank in Botswana. The study used a quantitative approach. A sample of 84 respondents who are employees of the National Development Bank (NDB) of Botswana took part in the study. These were selected through a stratified random sampling method to ensure representation in all strata. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.  The study found out that employees of National Development Bank understand the concept of money laundering and the stages involved in money laundering. Secondly, the study established that the main causes of money laundering were corruption, politicians and prominent persons influence, and weak banking and financial systems. Thirdly, the study established that money laundering is harmful to the economy in different ways that include increased national crime, increased corruption, and negative effects on the economy. The study recommended that the management of NDB should adopt anti-money laundering/ combating/ counter terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regulations laid out by regulating bodies including those of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Bank of Botswana and the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA). In addition to this, the bank management should expose its employee to continuous knowledge on ML/FT through in-house training and external workshops with other industry stakeholders. The bank should also adopt a robust record management system that is able to capture all transactions taking place within it. The system should be robust enough to flag suspicious ML/FT activities taking place through transactions carried out within the bank

Towards an aligned South African National Cybersecurity Policy Framework

This thesis measured and aligned factors that contribute to the misalignment of the South African National Cybersecurity Policy Framework (SA-NCPF). The exponential growth rate of cyber-attacks and threats has caused more headaches for cybersecurity experts, law enforcement agents, organisations and the global business economy. The emergence of the global Corona Virus Disease-2019 has also contributed to the growth of cyber-attacks and threats thus, requiring concerted efforts from everyone in society to devise appropriate interventions that mitigate unacceptable user behaviour in the reality of cyberspace. In this study, various theories were identified and pooled together into an integrative theoretical framework to provide a better understanding of various aspects of the law-making process more comprehensively. The study identified nine influencing factors that contributed to misalignment of the South African National Cybersecurity Policy Framework. These influencing factors interact with each other continuously producing complex relationships, therefore, it is difficult to measure the degree of influence of each factor, hence the need to look at and measure the relationships as Gestalts. Gestalts view individual interactions between pairs of constructs only as a part of the overall pattern. Therefore, the integrative theoretical framework and Gestalts approach were used to develop a conceptual framework to measure the degree of alignment of influencing factors. This study proposed that the stronger the coherence among the influencing factors, the more aligned the South African National Security Policy Framework. The more coherent the SA-NCPF is perceived, the greater would be the degree of alignment of the country's cybersecurity framework to national, regional and global cyberlaws. Respondents that perceived a strong coherence among the elements also perceived an effective SA-NCPF. Empirically, this proposition was tested using nine constructs. Quantitative data was gathered from respondents using a survey. A major contribution of this study was that it was the first attempt in South Africa to measure the alignment of the SA-NCPF using the Gestalts approach as an effective approach for measuring complex relationships. The study developed the integrative theoretical framework which integrates various theories that helped to understand and explain the South African law making process. The study also made a significant methodological contribution by adopting the Cluster-based perspective to distinguish, describe and predict the degree of alignment of the SA-NCPF. There is a dearth of information that suggests that past studies have adopted or attempted to address the challenge of alignment of the SA-NCPF using the cluster-based and Gestalts perspectives. Practical implications from the study include a review of the law-making process, skills development strategy, a paradigm shift to address the global Covid-19 pandemic and sophisticated cybercrimes simultaneously. The study asserted the importance of establishing an independent cybersecurity board comprising courts, legal, cybersecurity experts, academics and law-makers to provide cybersecurity expertise and advice. From the research findings, government and practitioners can draw lessons to review the NCPF to ensure the country develops an effective national cybersecurity strategy. Limitations and recommendations for future research conclude the discussions of this study