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News for and about members & students
Beyond Numbers · January 2007

Congratulations

Chris Browne, CA, a partner with White Kennedy in Penticton, has been appointed president of the board of directors for the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce.

Marielle Brûlé, CA, the ICABC’s 2006 Early Achievement Award winner, was voted “Best Accountant in the South Okanagan” for 2006 by readers of Okanagan Life magazine this past November.

Hari B. Varshney, FCA, has been appointed to a two-year term as chair of St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation.

Tech Tips! -- Securing your network

By Dave Iverson

Did Santa leave you a wireless router for Christmas? Or did the magic of the holidays inspire you to set up your own wireless network? In either case, network security—whether at home or at work—should be top of mind.

The following list summarizes five simple and quick steps you can take to help prevent your network from becoming the target of malicious attacks. Each of the features described below can be accessed through your router’s set-up menu and implemented in under 15 minutes.

1. Enable WPA encryption: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), provides wireless security through encryption and authentication techniques. WPA helps ensure that no outside sources are able to use your network connection, and that the data transmitted between computer and router cannot be intercepted easily, then read.
   
2. Change the router password: By default, the administrator account for all new routers comes with a simple log-in password, or no password at all. Once you’ve set up the network, change the log-in and password to something more complicated. Make sure you keep the new password in a safe but accessible location for easy reference.
   
3. Use “MAC” filtering: A Media Access Control (MAC) address is a hexadecimal number that represents network access cards. When MAC filtering is enabled, the router restricts network access to the network cards that are identified as accepted MAC addresses.
   
4. Turn off SSID broadcasting: Do not broadcast the name of the network—also known as the “Service Set Identifier” (SSID). The SSID identifies your network to any wireless systems within range. By disabling SSID broadcasting, you effectively make your network invisible to others.
   
5. Change the channel: Most wireless routers are set by default to channel 6. By changing the channel to some other number in the Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity®) spectrum, you decrease the potential for network interference. At the same time, using a different channel helps prevent the improper use of your network, as most hackers look for and use default settings.

Dave Iverson is a manager in investigations and forensic services at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Vancouver.

AGM Advance Notice: 2007 AGM and Members’ Recognition Dinner

The 2007 Annual General Meeting (AGM) is scheduled to take place on the afternoon of June 14, 2007, in Vancouver. Directly following the AGM will be the 7th annual Members’ Recognition Dinner. So mark your calendars now, and join us for both events! (More details will be provided in upcoming issues of Beyond Numbers.)

Missing Members

We’re trying to locate the following members. If you know of their whereabouts, please contact Ashley Turrie in member records at turrie@ica.bc.ca.

Mr. James C. Barclay, CA
Mr. Keppel C. Boulton, CA
Mr. Denis V. Burnett, CA
Mr. Paul T. Hansed, CA
Mr. Jeremie Jamin, CA
Ms. Melanie Kerr, CA
Mr. Harold E. McFarlane, CA
Mr. John S. Shaw, CA
Mr. Robert C. Shewfelt, CA
Mr. Robert Smith, CA
Mr. Robert J. Sundberg, CA

Notes on Licensing

Approved at the December 1, 2006, Practice Review & Licensing Committee Meeting:

Practice Licence Applications Approved

At its meeting of December 1, 2006, the following applications for practice licences were approved by the Practice Review & Licensing Committee, in accordance with Bylaws 611i & ii:

Nigel Burridge Ltd.; Parksville
M. Grey-Dreaper, CA; Victoria
Cecile Leong Sit Inc.; Burnaby
Nayyar & Company; Vancouver
Parish Anton; Victoria

Cancelled Licences and Mergers

At its meeting of December 1, 2006, the Practice Review & Licensing Committee received the following listing of firms no longer in public practice under these names:

Yik Fung Au-Yeung CA; Vancouver
BDO Dunwoody LLP; Sorrento (Sorrento office only)
Raymond Dagenais, CA; Campbell River
William Gault, CA; Victoria (Deceased)
George K.Y. Mah, CA; Langley
Pagnanini Edwards Lam; Vancouver (West Georgia St. only)  
Reinhart Professional   Corporation ; Edmonton (Alberta)
Steven J Rogowsky CA; West Vancouver
L. Soligo & Associates Ltd.; Rossland

ICABC Notices to Members

Attention: CEOs/CFOs of Public Companies and Auditors of Public Companies

Did you know that Multilateral Instrument 52-109, “CEO and CFO Certification,” requires the CEO and CFO of an issuer with a financial year ending after June 29, 2006, to certify in their certification that they have:

1. Designed disclosure controls and procedures (DCP) – annual and quarterly;
   
2. Designed internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) – annual and quarterly;
   
3. Evaluated the effectiveness of DCP – annual; and,
   
4. Caused the issuer to disclose in the management discussion and analysis the officers’ conclusions about the effectiveness of DCP – annual.

Certificates must be filed by all issuers (including venture issuers) regardless of size, and there is no discretion that allows CEOs or CFOs to change these certificates. Please refer to CSA Staff Notice 52-316 for guidance on officers’ ability to certify if they are aware of a weakness in the design of the issuer’s ICFR.

For more guidance on this topic, visit the CICA site at www.cica.ca and look under Research & Guidance/Risk Management & Governance/Publications or go directly to www.cica.ca/3/3/6/8/4/index1.shtml. There you’ll find two publications on Internal Control Certifications by James L. Goodfellow, FCA, and Alan Willis, CA:

• Internal Control 2006: The Next Wave of Certification – Guidance for Management; and
• Internal Control 2006: The Next Wave of Certification – Guidance for Directors.

Protecting Retirement Savings

On November 28, 2006, the Manitoba government proposed legislation that would protect all retirement savings plans from creditors in the event of bankruptcy. The ICABC has written a letter to the BC government endorsing this initiative. For more information, go to www.ica.bc.ca/pdf/govt_rrsp_protection.pdf.