CHAPTER 10 Processing Integrity and Availability Controls

Question 1

1. Which of the following measures the amount of data that might be potentially lost as a
result of a system failure?
a. recovery time objective (RTO) 
b. recovery point objective (RPO) 
c. disaster recovery plan (DRP) 
d. business continuity plan (BCP)

Answer 1

b. recovery point objective (RPO) (Correct. The RPO measures the time between the last
data backup and the occurrence of a problem.)

Question 2

2. Prenumbering of all source documents is a mitigating control to preserve processing integrity
at what stage of the process?
a. input
b. processing 
c. output.

Answer 2

a. input [Correct. Prenumbering improves control by making it possible to verify that no
documents are missing.]

Question 3

3. Automated controls supplement manual safeguards in checking source documents for
   reasonableness and propriety. Which of the following is not a data entry control?
   a. a sign check
   b. a range check
   c. a validity check
   d. a stability check

Answer 3

d. a stability check [Correct.]

Question 4

4. A reasonableness test checks the validity of the logical relationship between two data
   items. It is an application control that verifies that an account number entered in a transaction
   record matches an account number in the related master file.
   a. True
   b. False

Answer 4

a. True [Correct. Reasonable test is an edit check of the logical correctness of relationships
among data items.]

Question 5

5. Which of the following statements is true?
   a. Incremental daily backups are faster to perform than differential daily backups, but
   restoration is slower and more complex.
   b. Incremental daily backups are faster to perform than differential daily backups, and
   restoration is faster and simpler.
   c. Differential daily backups are faster to perform than incremental daily backups, but restoration
   is slower and more complex.
   d. Differential daily backups are faster to perform than incremental daily backups, and
   restoration is faster and simpler.

Answer 5

a. Incremental daily backups are faster to perform than differential daily backups, but
restoration is slower and more complex. (Correct.)

Question 6

6. A transposition error results when numbers of two adjacent columns are inadvertently
   exchanged (for example, 64 is written instead of 46). It can be mitigated with
   a. input controls.
   b. processing controls.
   c. output controls.

Answer 6

b. processing controls. [Correct. Processing controls ensure that data is processed
correctly. ]

Question 7

7. Which of the following is an example of the kind of batch total called a hash total?
   a. the sum of the purchase amount field in a set of purchase orders
   b. the sum of the purchase order number field in a set of purchase orders
   c. the number of completed documents in a set of purchase orders
   d. all of the above

Answer 7

b. the sum of the purchase order number field in a set of purchase orders (Correct. The
sum of purchase order numbers has no intrinsic meaning.)

Question 8

8. Which of the following statements is true?
   a. Virtualization significantly reduces RTO for hardware problems.
   b. Cloud computing reduces the risk that a single catastrophe from either a natural disaster
   or terrorist attack would result in significant downtime and loss of availability.
   c. Backups still need to be made when using either virtualization or cloud computing.
   d. All of the above are true.

Answer 8

d. All of the above are true. (Correct.)

Question 9

9. What is the name of the basic option for replacing IT infrastructure that is an empty building,
   prewired for necessary telephone and Internet access, plus a contract with one or more vendors to provide all necessary equipment within a specified period of time?
   a. A hot site.
   b. A cold site.
   c. A switch site.

Answer 9

b. A cold site. [Correct. A disaster recovery option that relies on access to an alternative
facility that is prewired for necessary telephone and Internet access.]

Question 10

10. Organizations also need to implement controls designed to minimize the risk of data
    transmission errors. When data are transmitted, the sending device can calculate a hash of
    the file, called a
    a. parity bit.
    b. parity checking.
    c. check sums.

Answer 10

c. check sums. [Correct. A data transmission control that uses a hash of a file to verify
accuracy. ]