Computer audit concerns in the client-server environment

M. Com. (Computer Auditing)and peer-to-peer have taken the world by storm. Dramatic changes have taken place in the information technology of organisations that have opted to follow this trend in the quest for greater flexibility and access to all those connected. Though technology has already had far-reaching effects on business, many changes are yet to be seen. The threats associated with the continuing developments in computer technology have resulted in many traditional internal control processes changing forever. Although, according to the above, it is fairly common that the client-server technology brings with it new threats and risks with internal control processes having to change to address these threats and risks, not all areas have been addressed yet. It is therefore clear that computer audit has a role to play. The main objective of this short dissertation is to shed some light on the problem described above: How will the changes wrought by the client-server technology affect the traditional audit approach? In other words, how will the computer auditor narrow the gap that has originated between traditional established audit procedures and an audit approach that meets the new challenges of the client-server environment? This will be achieved by pinpointing the audit concerns that arise due to the fundamental differences between the traditional systems environment and the new client-server environment..