FORENSIC
ACCOUNTING
& FRAUD
Publisher
Anand Ablack, LL.B.
Editor in Chief
Rob Kelly
Associate Editor
Adam Malik
The evolution of brinkmanship
Art Director
Tammy Leung
OFFENCE VERSUS defence is a con-
test that has been played out since the
dawn of recorded time, as depicted by
data from the fossil record on up to the
recent financial crash. Sketched on an-
cient stones is evidence of predator and
prey, and the evolution of both. Etched
in more recent history is the struggle
between lawful and lawless, responsible
and reckless.
In the financial world, the stakes are
likely higher than they have ever been.
Consider that Canada’s Financial Trans-
actions and Reports Analysis Centre
(FINTRAC) can deal with 64,000 ex-
changes of one sort or another per day.
Annually, it’s as if three-quarters of all
Canadians made a deal the agency moni-
tored. Then consider whether that level
of scrutiny prevails everywhere in the
world, especially in places where there
are many people who do not wish North
Americans well. And that is only one
small aspect of the challenge.
Beyond the sheer volume of transac-
tions, a percentage of which are of course
criminal or in the service of criminal
intent, there is the technology that sur-
rounds it all. A computing device as small
as a fingernail can hold more than 200
feature-length movies. It can inject or ex-
tract a similar volume of data from a lap-
top or anything else connected to a wider
network. And that is cyber-sabotage at a
basic level of delivery.
Indeed, the threat today is almost bio-
logical in its complexity, and computer
viruses are therefore worthy of the name.
They travel the electronic bloodstream
of commerce, are attacked by antibody-
like software and either succumb or suc-
cessfully resist. The virus creators learn
from each failure, as hopefully does the
other side. Immunity grapples with dis-
ease in deadly brinkmanship when it
comes to money, power and even na-
tional security.
Rob Kelly
Editor in Chief
Contributors
Jeff Buckstein
Grant Cameron
Brian Christmas
Matthew Grace
Samantha Jackson
Gundi Jeffrey
Donalee Moulton
Mort Shapiro
Chris Young
Production
Pauline Braithwaite
Marlene Roopsingh
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Jim Grice (905) 415–5807
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Valery Salo (905) 415–5881
Traffic Co-ordinator
Jackie D’Souza
Circulation Controller
Scott Welsh
Email: scott.welsh@lexisnexis.ca
Cover Image
Kheng Ho Toh | Dreamstime.com
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Forensic Accounting & Fraud is a supplement published in The Bottom
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