A surge of interest in decentralised finance is leading the market to question whether this is a bubble ready to burst, or whether it can overcome its growing pains to become a sustainable alternative to services offered by traditional centralised finance.
The proponents of decentralised finance will argue that it casts the net wide to individuals and institutions who can access financial applications, that perhaps couldn’t before. And without the need for a trusted intermediary inside a permissionless ecosystem.

The detractors will claim that the financial services sector has already invested $1.7bn in blockchain (according to Greenwich Associates). And yet beyond the volatile world of bitcoin, it has had very little impact. Furthermore, regulation is desperately required and there are low levels of liquidity resulting in low uti-lisation amongst established enterprises.

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As we all are aware about that the season of Statutory Bank Audits is on its verge. It’s the time when
professionals are getting the straps of their boots ready to have a crisp walk. I thought it desirable to
pen down a few things, which are basic and my experience of Bank Audits and having worked in
banking industry post qualification and experiences with two of the big banks (StanC and Axis Bank)
and having done the Statutory Bank Audits of PSU Banks.

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In this 2020 edition of our annual review of issues affecting audit committees during the year‑end audit cycle, we summarize key developments for audit committees to consider. With the changing risk landscape, the audit committee’s
role continues to grow more demanding and complex amid the pandemic and a dynamic and fluid business environment.
This report will assist audit committees as they proactively address recent and upcoming developments in financial reporting, tax, the regulatory landscape and risk management.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or the Commission) staff continues to encourage audit committees to maintain the right “tone at the top” to create an environment and culture that supports the integrity of the financial reporting process. Additionally, stakeholders are requiring businesses to provide more disclosures for a variety of reasons.

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In March 2021 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) observed Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors scanning devices on ports 4443, 8443, and 10443 for CVE-2018-13379, and enumerated devices for CVE-2020-12812 and CVE-2019-5591. It is likely that the APT actors are scanning for these vulnerabilities to gain access to multiple government, commercial, and technology services networks. APT actors have historically exploited critical vulnerabilities to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, ransomware attacks, structured query language (SQL) injection attacks, spearphishing campaigns, website defacements, and disinformation campaigns.

The FBI and CISA have information indicating APT actors are using multiple CVEs to exploit Fortinet FortiOS vulnerabilities. The FBI and CISA believe the APT actors are likely exploiting these Fortinet FortiOS vulnerabilities—CVE 2018-13379, CVE-2020-12812, and CVE-2019-5591—to gain access to multiple government, commercial, and technology services networks.

The APT actors may be using any or all of these CVEs to gain access to networks across multiple critical infrastructure sectors to gain access to key networks as pre-positioning for follow-on data exfiltration or data encryption attacks. APT actors may use other CVEs or common exploitation techniques—such as spearphishing—to gain access to critical infrastructure networks to pre-position for follow-on attacks.

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Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services like software, digital content, servers, data storage, integrated development environment over the Internet. Cloud is a metaphor for the internet as denoted in network diagrams. Companies offering such services are called as Cloud Service Providers or CSPs. They typically charge a fee for delivering computing services based upon usage just like electricity, gas, and water.

Cloud computing is a disruptive technology that has the potential to enhance collaboration, agility, scaling and availability as well as a possibility to reduce costs through optimized and efficient computing.

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