Methods and systems for transaction compliance monitoring

Abstract

An automated transaction integrity monitoring system (100) operative to monitor electronic transactions of an enterprise and detect exceptions indicating noncompliance with enterprise policies. An extractor (140) obtains data from heterogeneous data sources such as enterprise databases. A staging database (155) caches data from the data sources. A mapper (150) maps enterprise data into an enterprise ontology used to express enterprise policies. A knowledge base (165) stores computer-executable policy statements, extractor data, and mapper data. A monitoring database (175) stores data mapped in the enterprise ontology. A collaborative reasoning engine (CORE) (160) executes policy statements against the monitoring database and determines exceptions. An exceptions database (185) stores exceptions from CORE. A case management system (190) provides for analysis and tracking of exceptions.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of and priority on U.S. Patent Application No. 60 / 554,784, filed Mar. 19, 2004, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF TRANSACTION DATA FLOWS” by Peter H. Kennis, Stayton D. Addison, Charles A. Coombs, Andrew T. Otwell, and Daniel R. Kuokka, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to compliance monitoring of electronic enterprise transactions, and more particularly relates to transaction-level integrity monitoring of electronic data transactions within enterprise computing systems for enterprise policy compliance monitoring, anomaly detection, risk assessment, fraud deterrence, and investigation. BACKGROUND [0003] The growth of automated business systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications, continues to prope...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] Briefly described, the present invention provides an automated electronic transaction integrity monitoring system that allows establishment, codification, and maintenance of enterprise policies, monitors electronic transactions of the enterprise from various and possibly heterogeneous data sources, detects exceptions to established policies, reports such exceptions to authorized users such as managers and auditors, and provides a case management system for tracking such exceptions and their underlying transactions. The disclosed system reduces the cost of compliance with regulatory, contractual, and business process compliance, including ongoing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, by continuously monitoring key controls including that required for Section 404 certification by auditors. Use of systems and methods constructed in accordance with the invention addresses the tangible costs of controls testing and remediation along with the opportunity costs associated with the internal distractions of compliance. Use of the present invention catches errors, fraud and internal control issues early in the transaction process so that corrections can be made before time is wasted duplicating and reversing work, before money is lost, and before controls are deemed deficient. By identifying the root causes of control violations and errors in real time, the present invention allows an enterprise to improve the quality of its earnings, ensure accountability, enhance business processes, and remediate any weaknesses for regulatory compliance.

[0016] To meet the heightened concerns about inside threats from systems-based fraud, misuse, and errors, the present inventors pioneered the concept and technologies of automated transaction integrity monitoring (“TIM”), according to systems and methods of the present invention. Unlike existing perimeter security solutions or access control systems, systems constructed in accordance with aspects of the inventions identify transactions where authorized users perform suspicious or otherwise noncompliant transactions within business systems. A TIM system according to the invention(s) analyzes transactions across multiple business applications to detects, prevents, and deters financial loss from systems-based fraud, misuse, and errors.

[0017] Embodiments of the present invention combine advanced data acquisition, data analytics, case management, and evidentiary analysis functionality. The disclosed systems and methods collect data across multiple platforms (including IT infrastructure as well as external data sources such as publicly accessible databases), and perform multi-perspective analysis to identify fraud, misuse, and errors. The system is capable of detecting problem transactions in several ways, including the use of multiple indicators of problems, linkage to related entities, tracking ongoing exceptions to policies that have not been resolved, and helping identify patterns that are associated with errors, misuse, and fraud. The system then generates high-impact reports, provides integrated case management, and enables evidentiary analysis.

Problems solved by technology

First, such transaction monitoring establishes a business environment that deters employees and other insiders from committing business hacks.

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