Which risk poses the greatest potential threat in an electronic data interchange (EDI) environment?

In an electronic data interchange (EDI) environment, the greatest potential threat stems from the lack of transaction authorizations. This is because authorization serves as the first line of defense against unauthorized access and actions within a system. When transaction authorizations are lacking, there is an increased risk of unauthorized transactions being processed. This can lead to significant financial losses, data integrity issues, and damage to business relationships.

In an EDI setup, transactions often occur between parties without direct human intervention. A deficiency in authorizations can enable fraudulent activities, where individuals with malicious intent can exploit the system to generate, modify, or approve transactions without proper oversight. This risk fundamentally undermines the integrity and trust that are critical in EDI environments.

While other risks, such as loss or duplication of transmissions, transmission delays, and manipulation of transactions, are significant concerns, they generally revolve around issues of data integrity or operational efficiency. However, without proper authorizations in place, these risks can be exacerbated, leading to potentially far-reaching consequences. Therefore, the absence of transaction authorizations poses the greatest threat in EDI environments, as it can directly enable unauthorized actions that could compromise the entire transactional framework.