THE WORK OF THE AUDITOR HAS EXPANDED SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE EVOLUTION OF THE COMPUTER FOR THE HANDLING OF OPERATIONS DATA. ONE GAO STANDARD FOR AUDITING WITH REFERENCE TO COMPUTER OPERATIONS IS THAT THE AUDITOR SHALL ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN REVIEWING THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR APPLICATIONS, AND SIGNIFICANT MODIFICATION THERETO, AS A NORMAL PART OF THE AUDIT FUNCTION. THIS STANDARD IS INTENDED TO ENSURE THAT SYSTEM DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, AND OVERALL OPERATIONS ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVES OF ADEQUATE INTERNAL CONTROLS AND EFFECTIVE AUDITABILITY. FOR SYSTEMS ALREADY IN EXISTENCE, THE AUDITOR IS EXPECTED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE OBJECTIVES OF THE SYSTEMS ARE BEING ACHIEVED. A SECOND STANDARD REQUIRES THAT THE AUDITOR REVIEW GENERAL CONTROLS IN DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS TO DETERMINE THAT CONTROLS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED ACCORDING TO MANAGEMENT DIRECTION AND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS AND THAT SUCH CONTROLS ARE OPERATING EFFECTIVELY IN TERMS OF DATA RELIABILITY AND SECURITY. A THIRD STANDARD INSTRUCTS AUDITORS TO REVIEW APPLICATION CONTROLS OF INSTALLED DATA PROCESSING APPLICATION TO ASSESS THEIR RELIABILITY IN PROCESSING DATA IN A TIMELY, ACCURATE, AND COMPLETE MANNER. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS STANDARD ARE TO ENSURE CONFORMANCE WITH STANDARDS AND APPROVED DESIGN AND TO TEST FOR CONTROL WEAKNESS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--RCB)