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Ethics & Compliance A Clean SOX 404 Audit Doesn't Mean All is Well By Ernie Sampias A clean SOX 404 audit opinion doesn't mean all is well with your company. Audits are great at looking backwards but what about assessing risks?   Quick Links:  Return to Accounting Homepage Weekly Accounting Newsletter Online CPE Twitter: SmartProsEditor       Quarterly Ethics & Compliance Insights newsletter   Sign up for regular Ethics updates   Updated 12/15

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Safeguard Against Database Failures CSP GmbH & Co. KG warns about substantial financial losses and reputational damage in case of database failures. Probe Finds Elaborate Cover-up at "Rotten" Olympus A panel probing an accounting scandal at Japan's Olympus Corp. said Tuesday an elaborate scheme to cover up $1.5 billion of investment losses was orchestrated by a group of top executives who were "rotten to the core." Cloud Security Tips to Help Enterprises Protect Data, Maintain Compliance Programs With the adoption of cloud computing continuing to accelerate, the need to adopt and maintain effective security and compliance practices is more important that ever. Whistle-blowing Ex-CEO Resigns from Olympus Board The whistle-blowing former chief executive of Japan's Olympus Corp. resigned as a director of the camera maker Thursday and vowed to work with shareholders to replace the company's board. Judge Rebukes SEC on Citigroup Deal A federal judge accused the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday of failing to do its job in one of the biggest cases to emerge from the mortgage meltdown, rejecting the agency's plan to settle a lawsuit against Citigroup. EDITORIAL: A Blow Against Fraud Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who presides over a federal district court in Manhattan, issued a ruling Monday that should make American citizens rejoice. He refused to sign off on a wrist-slap $285 million settlement the Securities and Exchange Commission had proposed to sign with Citigroup that would have allowed the giant Wall Street investment bank to avoid admitting defrauding investors of $700 million. Don't Teach to the Test ... and Other Engagement Lessons I take part in a lot of discussions about results. During the day, I speak with business leaders about their employee engagement initiatives. Survey methodology and results are often front and center in those conversations. Want to Improve Employee Engagement? Make it Part of the Performance Management Process The performance management process should evaluate and focus on employee engagement in addition to job performance, according to a paper published from the University of Toronto and University of Guelph. Engagement and Tipping Points I have been thinking lately about tipping points. More specifically, I have been looking at a lot of engagement data -- both from our own clients and abstracted data from other studies -- and the more I look, the more I see tipping points. Cash Incentives Not Always the Best Employee Motivator The widely held belief that cash incentive awards are always the most effective employee motivator has been questioned in a new research review conducted by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the Incentive Federation. U.S. Employee Engagement on the Rise A new Ipsos survey released today from Randstad finds a majority of U.S. employees are highly engaged and happy in their jobs -- despite predictions that many workers will seek new jobs once the job market strengthens. Employees Calling EAPs for Help with Financial Stress Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are pitched as a way for staffers to get help with eating healthy or dealing with grief, family problems and depression. In an uncertain economy, however, more workers are also turning to their EAP to cope with financial stress. Videos, Installers, Cracks and Social Media as Most Popular Baits Used by Hackers PandaLabs, the anti-malware laboratory of Panda Security, has released a study on the nature of malware- infected websites that were blocked by the company's antivirus solutions in Q1 2011.

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