Report Summary
Financial-Related Audit
Department of Economic Security
Mainframe Scheduled Batch Processing and MIPS Accounting System
For the Period Ending February 2000
Key Findings and Recommendations:
- The department scheduled and ran over 300 batch jobs during 1999 that were not subjected to an independent quality control review. Because scheduled batch jobs typically have very powerful security clearances associated with them, we recommended that the department independently review all scheduled batch jobs. (Finding 1, page 6)
- The department provided some information system professionals with more access to the scheduled batch environment than was needed to fulfill their normal job duties. (Finding 2, page 6)
- The department did not perform necessary maintenance on its ACF2 security infrastructure. We recommended that the department periodically cancel or suspend user accounts that are no longer needed and purge unneeded security rules. (Finding 3, page 7)
- The department permitted many users to share powerful network accounts. We recommended that the department create unique network accounts for all people and enforce periodic password changes. (Finding 4, page 9)
Financial-Related Audit Reports address internal control weaknesses and noncompliance issues found during our audits of state departments and agencies. The scope of our work at the Department of Economic Security was limited to a review of access to the department's mainframe scheduled batch processing environment, and access to the department's network-based MIPS accounting system. The department's response to our recommendations is included in the report.
