An organization needs psychological safety for whistleblowing by internal auditors and others to have maximum impact on fraud detection and prevention, three accounting professors write. Whistleblowers are more likely to speak up fully if they perceive psychological safety, knowing retaliation is unlikely.

The Office of the District of Columbia Auditor has audited the Office of Unified Communications 911 Operations Division and has found inadequate oversight of dispatchers and call takers, inconsistent use of scripted protocols and location technology by call takers, and unnecessary complications for call takers caused by the number of chief complaints available. The Office of Unified Communications says it has made progress on some issues and will work to hire more call takers.

Although most internal audit reports focus on the weaknesses and problems internal auditors found, most audit testing reveals positive results, writes Tahsinur Rahim, head of audit and compliance at Guardian Life Insurance Ltd. in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In this week's On the Frontlines blog, Rahim writes that sharing such good news with audit clients shows them what is working and helps internal audit build a stronger relationship with them. However, it's important for auditors to strike a balance so that they still highlight the problems they found that might impact the client's operations, Rahim writes.

Employers without a vaccination mandate will have higher legal and reputational risk, and companies with many unvaccinated employees could see more sick days and higher medical expenses, writes Dr. Jeff Levin-Scherz of Willis Towers Watson. Certain job sectors could see more employees quit or be fired over vaccine refusals, such as airport workers or police officers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to seek public comment on a proposed rule for clawback of executive compensation that the SEC had discussed in 2015 but never finalized. The rule would increase the power of the SEC to require clawback of executive compensation when a company must restate financial results as a result of compliance failure.

The momentum that special-purpose acquisition companies had in the early parts of the year has cooled, and Mark Watson III of Aquila Capital Partners points to regulatory scrutiny and the risk of falling short of investor expectations. Companies wishing to go public through SPAC deals must ensure they are ready to publicly disclose financial results, Watson notes.

District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine is suing Marriott International for alleged deceptive practices in reaping what his office says is more than $220 million in resort fees since 2012. The company did not respond immediately to the new filing in a 2019 lawsuit, but it has denied previously that it failed to notify guests of the fees up front.

The federal government is addressing cybersecurity issues, but business owners ultimately are responsible for protecting themselves from data breaches, former IIA President and CEO Richard Chambers writes. That means taking steps such as conducting risk assessments to determine areas of vulnerability, operating under a "zero-trust" security policy and creating a security-focused company culture.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Security Agency and the FBI have released a joint advisory on the BlackMatter ransomware group, which has been targeting critical infrastructure groups and US companies in the food and agriculture industry. NSA Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce explains that BlackMatter's operations have become a national security concern and notes that "the mitigations in the joint advisory ... will protect networks and mitigate the risk against BlackMatter and other ransomware attacks."

Avoid the perils of perfectionism by focusing on progress, the present and the chance to learn from mistakes, says Ryan Estis. "As I look back at my life, so many of my biggest setbacks and mistakes were catalysts for growth and important life lessons," Estis writes.

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The latest Global Knowledge Brief, "Embracing the Future: How technology helps audit teams stay ahead of the curve," outlines how internal audit can benefit from pandemic-accelerated digital transformation. It explains how internal audit must embrace the spirit of innovation and how agile methodology can improve the entire engagement process. Plus, this tech-savvy and sophisticated report presents two case studies that detail how obstacles became opportunities for internal auditors during the prolonged pandemic. Free download for members.