University of North Carolina, Greensboro

ACC 638

CHAPTER 4

SECURITY PART II: AUDITING DATABASE SYSTEMS REVIEW QUESTIONS

1)What is a legacy system?

2. What is the flat­file model?

3. What are the key elements of the database environment?

4. What types of problems does data redundancy cause?

5. What flat­file data management problems are solved as a result of using the database concept?

6. What is DML?

7. What is the purpose of the data definition language?

8. What is the internal view of a database?

9. What is SQL?

10. What is a data dictionary, and what purpose does it serve?

11. What are the two fundamental components of data structures?

12. What are the criteria that influence the selection of the data structure?

13. What is a data attribute?

14. What is a record type?

15. What is a record association?

16. What is a database?

17. What is an enterprise database?

18. What is time­stamping, and why is it useful?

19. Explain the grandfather­father­son backup technique. Is it used for sequential files or direct access techniques? Why? How many generations can be backed up?

20. What are inference controls? Why are they needed?

21. What are the four basic backup and recovery features necessary in a DBMS? Briefly explain each.

22. What is data encryption?

23. What are biometric devices?

24. What is a user­defined procedure?

Discussion Questions

1. In the flat­file data management environment, users are said to own their data files. What is meant by this ownership concept?

2. Why is a hierarchical data model considered to be a navigational database?

3. Discuss why control procedures over access to the database become more crucial under the database concept than in the flat­file data management environment.

What role does the DBMS play in helping to control the database environment?

4. What is the relationship between a schema and a subschema?

5. Discuss the two ways in which users can access the database files in a database environment.

6. Discuss the limitations of the hierarchical database model?

7. What is a partitioned database and what are its advantages?

8. SQL has been said to place power in the hands of the user. What is meant by this statement?

9. Discuss the importance of the role of the database administrator. Why wasn’t such a role necessary in the flat­file environment? What tasks are performed by the DBA?

10. As users determine new computer application needs, requests must be sent to both the system programmers and the DBA. Why is it important that these two groups perform separate functions, and what are these functions?

11. Discuss disadvantages of a partitioned database.

12. In a distributed data processing system, why can temporary inconsistencies result in permanent damage to accounting records? Explain with an example.

13. What is a replicated database, and what control issues exist?

14. Which database method would be most appropriate for ticket sales at thirty different outlets to an assigned seating concert? Why?

15. Why is it risky to allow programmers to create user subschemas and assign access authority to users?

16. Is access control of greater concern in the flat­file or database file environment?

17           Discuss the relationship between attributes and entities.

18. In a database environment, individual users may be granted summary and statistical query access to confidential data to which they normally are denied direct access. Describe how security can be preserved through inference controls.

19. Discuss and give an example of one­to­one, one­to­many, and many­to­many record associations.

20. Explain the deadlock phenomenon. Discuss how it could occur with a phone­in mail order system that locks the inventory records until the order is complete.