Addressing Application Data Integrity Risk

D.

Application data integrity risk refers to the possibility of unauthorized or unintentional modification, deletion, or insertion of data within an application, which can lead to erroneous decisions, compliance violations, and other issues. To address this risk, a design should incorporate measures to ensure that data within the application is accurate, consistent, and complete. Among the options provided, the design that would MOST directly address the application data integrity risk is D) reconciliation routines such as checksums, hash totals, and record counts.

Reconciliation routines are checks performed on the application data to ensure that the data is accurate and consistent. These checks can be performed at different levels, such as the field, record, or file level. Checksums and hash totals are examples of algorithms used to generate unique values for data sets that can be compared to detect any modifications or errors. Record counts are used to ensure that the number of records in a file or table is consistent with what is expected.

By implementing reconciliation routines, organizations can detect any unauthorized or unintentional changes to the data within the application. This can provide an added layer of protection against data tampering or manipulation, which is essential in applications where the data is critical or sensitive. However, it is important to note that reconciliation routines alone may not be sufficient to address all data integrity risks, and other controls, such as access controls, data backups, and disaster recovery plans, should also be implemented.

Access control technologies such as role-based entitlements (A) can limit access to the application and its data, which is an essential component of any information security program. However, access controls alone may not be sufficient to address the risk of data integrity. Strict application of an authorized data dictionary (B) can ensure that data within the application is consistent and conforms to defined standards, but it may not be enough to prevent unauthorized or unintentional changes to the data. Application log requirements such as field-level audit trails and user activity logs (C) can help detect unauthorized access or activity, but they may not directly address data integrity risks.

In conclusion, while all the options provided can contribute to a comprehensive information security program, reconciliation routines such as checksums, hash totals, and record counts would be the most direct way to address application data integrity risks.