A whistleblower with compliance duties has been awarded $450,000 from the Securities and Exchange Commission, becoming the third person with internal audit or compliance duties to receive such an award. Information from the whistleblower helped the SEC refocus an investigation that led to an enforcement action.

Remote working has quickly become the new normal, writes Jim Pelletier, IIA vice president of standards and professional knowledge. "In this environment, business leaders must be aware of the impacts not just to their operations and bottom lines, but to their employees," he writes. Pelletier notes that with employees' common practices being disrupted so completely, there will inevitably be an impact not only to productivity, but also to their personal well-being.

The internal audit function is evolving, taking on duties such as participating in decision-making by leadership and giving input on business strategy, writes Bharat Shah of RSM India. Shah explains how the internal audit function can set itself up for the future by not only preserving but also adding value.

One purpose of enterprise risk management is to ensure organizations consider risks and plan actions necessary to be in a proactive, instead of reactive, stance. An annual survey by the ERM Initiative and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants shows 39% of organizations have a minimal or nonexistent procedure for gauging or finding industry, market or strategic risks, compared with 32% a year ago.

The Environmental Protection Agency has suspended some legally required public health and environmental protections because of the coronavirus pandemic. The waiver is retroactive to March 13 and requires businesses to follow "reasonably practicable" regulations and to explain how the pandemic is the cause if a violation occurs, the EPA says.

Fraud linked to the coronavirus pandemic has cost US consumers $4.77 million, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC says the median loss is $598.

PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of running an illegal gambling operation. He is one of 11 online poker room executives charged with illegal gambling, money laundering and bank fraud stemming from April 2011's "Black Friday."

For people just getting to know the Zoom system for videoconferencing, Sharon Nelson and John Simek of IT and cybersecurity company Sensei Enterprises have a long-form primer. Among their points: Beware of privacy, because Zoom "collects a lot of data from users about their devices, activities and data shared or transferred."

Governments around the world are turning to facial recognition and cellphone tracking technology as part of their efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, but widespread use of these tools poses a threat to individual privacy, warns Joseph Cannataci, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to privacy. "Dictatorships and authoritarian societies often start in the face of a threat," Cannataci cautions.

Turning to creative arts such as journaling, cooking, painting or reading can help ease anxiety, provide a sense of control and reveal new skills during this time of social distancing, writes Lauren Clark. "One of the joys that will arise from this current situation is that humanity will become more creative, and ... closer!" she writes.

In collaboration with Crowe, The IIA's Internal Audit Foundation has released Privacy and Data Protection -- Internal Audit's Role in Establishing a Resilient Framework. The first in a three-part series, this new report serves as a how-to guide to assist internal auditors in assessing their current level of preparedness regarding privacy and data protection issues. Download today.

The IIA's new Global Knowledge Brief, Data Ethics -- Where Does Internal Audit Fit?, explores organizational conduct and the potential associated reputational and financial damages for failure to establish appropriate data governance. As the regulatory environment around data ethics evolves, internal auditors must expand their knowledge of this risk. Members can download now.