Introduction why AIS Threats Are Increasing In today's world, controlling the security and integrity of computer systems is an important issue. Control risks have increased in the last few years as studies show that more than 60% of organizations have recently experienced a major control failure. Among the reasons for the increase in security problems are the following Increasing numbers of information systems mean that information is available to an unprecedented number of workers. Computers and servers are every where. ChevronTexaco. for example. has over 3 PCs. tributed computer networks are harder to control t centralized mainframe systems. At ChevronTexaco. information is distributed among many systems and thousands of employees working all over the world Wide area networks are giving customers and suppliers access to each other's systems and data, making confidentiality a major concern. For example. Wal- Mart allows certain vendors to access particular information in its computers a condition of their alliance. Imagine the potential confidentiality problems as if these vendors also formed alliances with Wal-Mart competitors. Historically, many organizations have not adequately protected their data due to the following: Computer control problems have been underestimated and downplayed. and companies viewed the loss of crucial information as a distant, unlikely threat. For example, the number of participants in an Ernst & Young that study thought computer security was an extremely important issue declined from 35% to 25% over a one year period.