Security Worries Top AICPA Tech List

   

New York (Jan. 7, 2003) -- Information security surged to become the No. 1 technology concern for the upcoming year, according to the recently released American Institute of CPAs 2003 Top Technologies survey. The issue ranked No. 3 last year and topped the results in 2001.AICPA’s Top Technologies list groups the 10 areas most likely to have an impact on business in the coming year.

"It should come as no surprise that Information Security is the top issue," said Roman Kepczyk, chairman of the AICPA Information Technology Executive Committee and chair of the Top Technologies Task Force. "Information Security always makes a significant showing on the list. We can expect it to be a major issue for the foreseeable future."

The 2003 results also revealed six new entries to the list of 10, including business information management, wireless technologies, and privacy. Another notable change in the rankings was Web services' climb to fourth place this year, up from the No. 8 spot in 2002.

Here is the complete ranking for 2003:

  1. Information Security: Tools and processes that protect an organization's information systems from internal and external threats, such as firewalls, anti-virus software, and Internet-protocol strategy.
  2. Business Information Management: The process of capturing, indexing, storing, retrieving, searching, and managing documents electronically, including knowledge and database management (XML, PDF and other formats).
  3. Application Integration: The ability of different operating systems, applications, and databases to "talk" to each other and for information to flow freely regardless of application, language, or platform.
  4. Web Services: These include Java applications, Microsoft's .Net initiative, and today's Application Service Providers (ASP) and business portals.
  5. Disaster Recovery Planning: The process by which organizations plan for continuity of their business in the event of a loss of business information resources due to theft, virus infestation, weather damage, accidents, or other malicious destruction.
  6. Wireless Technologies.
  7. Intrusion Detection: Software or hardware that list and track all login attempts on a network such as Tripwire.
  8. Remote Connectivity: Technology that allows a user to connect to a computer from a distant location outside of the office.
  9. Customer Relationship Management: Software that manages Call Center Technologies, E-commerce, Data Warehousing, and all other technologies used to facilitate communications with customers and prospects.
  10. Privacy.

The AICPA reports that 201 of its members participated in the 2003 survey, including 142 CPAs holding the Institute's Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) accreditation..-- Electronic Accountant Newswire staff

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY