[read complete final report - pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether Wheelerville Union Free School District (District) officials maintained complete and accurate inventory records to safeguard unused information technology (IT) assets.

Key Findings

District officials did not maintain complete and accurate inventory records to safeguard unused IT assets.

• Officials did not maintain IT asset inventory records and, as a result, were unable to conduct necessary physical inventories.
• Officials stored unused IT assets in an unsecured area and an unlocked cabinet in a classroom and did not track or monitor who accessed the equipment.  We also observed obsolete unused IT equipment that had not been sanitized of data prior to storage.
• We were unable to identify 354 unused IT assets (91 percent) on inventory records. We identified 70 unused IT assets that were at high risk of potential theft and misuse of personal, private or sensitive information, or unauthorized access to the network.

Key Recommendations

• Ensure IT asset inventory records are complete.
• Physically safeguard unused IT assets and ensure that obsolete IT equipment is free from data prior to storage or authorized disposal.
• Conduct and compare periodic physical inventories to inventory records and investigate discrepancies.

District officials generally agreed with our recommendations and have initiated, or indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.