Accounting Information Systems of Air New Zealand Assignment

Accounting Information Systems of Air New Zealand - Assignment Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that Air New Zealand has a total workforce of 10,453 employees and a reported income of 71$ Million as of August 2012. Air New Zealand can be considered as one of the lifeblood of New Zealand’s economy since it provides services that are essential in the dynamics of commerce. At about 9 am on November 10, 2009, an outage of the computer system of Air New Zealand affected its airport check-in systems as well as its online bookings and call center systems. The outage affected more than ten thousand passengers contributing to the chaos and confusion of affected airports. The disruption not only caused millions of dollars in actual damages to Air New Zealand itself but also to its customers and related business depending on the airline for its logistic needs. On June 18, 2007, Air New Zealand/Eagle Airways Flight 2300 was forced to land on its belly due to the hydraulic system that was being drained via a fatigue crack in its actuator that caused the landing gear to being stuck. There was no recorded fatality in the incident and the damage to the aircraft is repairable. Both incidents while considered accidents could have been prevented if the right information security management system is in place to protect the information assets of Air New Zealand. It should be noted that incidents similar to the ones described may cause the company more in terms of legal if not goodwill costs. Threats not only impact the corporation itself as an entity but also affect its employees, clients, and partners. As predicted on threats not only affect the operation of Air New Zealand, it likewise creates doubt about the safety of its clients and equally affects its financial assets as well as those of its partners. Identification of the threats is therefore not only essential in managing the risks associated to the operation and service provisioning of Air New Zealand it is similarly essential in setting up the inf rastructure that would support its overall security management systems. Threats by any definition is an entity or process if not events that threaten life, disrupt operation, or cause damage to the corporate image of any entity and in this particular case—Air New Zealand—its cause damage to assets of the company, its employee, its clients and even its partners. In the context of information technology in particular Accounting Information System, a threat is a process, thing, or person that will affect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information system, its data, and programs. Natural Disasters and Terrorist Attacks – these are often remediated with the use of backup sites Software Errors and/or Equipment Malfunctions – This will be discussed further at the operational threats Unintentional Acts – These are often done by unsuspecting clients and at times even employees. Strict information security policy is the best way to ad dress these threats. Intentional Acts – This can be done by hackers from the external front and disgruntled employees from the internal front.