A lot has been written here and elsewhere about the cybersecurity risks to law firms, but there is another, similarly situated profession that has not received as much attention. According to a report issued last week by ACCA USA, the U.S. arm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and Pace University, accountants must also be particularly vigilant in ensuring that “the sensitive personal and corporate financial information they handle is safe.” Accountants need to be “at the forefront of cybersecurity,” the ACCA USA report stated.
Like law firms, accounting professionals are at the “center of the threat” because they work with the data and the personal identifiable information that cybercriminals target. As part of the report, ACCA USA and Pace University surveyed a cross section of ACCA members (including practitioners, managers and senior executives) about cybersecurity. According to ACCA USA, key findings included:
