Misuse of information and communications technology within the public sector
Alice Hutchings, Penny Jorna · Australian Institute of Criminology eBooks · 2015
Information and communications technology (ICT) may be the target of criminal activity, as well as a tool used to facilitate criminal acts. Trust is placed in government employees to ensure that personal data are handled appropriately. However, there have been instances where this trust has been abused and data have been inappropriately accessed or otherwise used by insiders for illegitimate purposes. The misuse of ICT may also provide opportunities for financial gain, such as where accounting systems are manipulated by persons both within and external to agencies to commit fraud. Using the findings from the Fraud against the Commonwealth Surveys conducted by the Australian Institute of Criminology, data is presented regarding the misuse of ICT within the Australian Government over the three year period between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2011. It is concluded that although the ICT environment is rapidly changing, fraud control plans, organisational policies and technical standards for data security minimise the risk of ICT misuse and identify intervention points at which prevention and detection methods may be focused.