Cybersecurity Solutions for Accounting Firms

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Our vCSO solution ensures consistent and reliable deliverables, delivering the results your business needs to stay protected.

Why Are Accounting Firms Targeted?

Cybercriminals know that organizations handling a lot of sensitive personal information, like names, addresses and SINs, or handling other people's money, are especially vulnerable to ransomware and other cyber attacks.

Access to sensitive financial information - accountants have access to some of the most sensitive data - from social insurance numbers to banking details to corporate financial records. From the cybercriminal's perspective that makes your firm a goldmine just waiting to be exploited. The information you've been entrusted with by your clients can be sold, ransomed, or used for other nefarious purposes.
Reliance on digital technology - the days of paper ledgers are long gone and modern accounting firms are increasingly reliant on computers, software and other digital tools to manage clients' financial data. Cybercriminals know this and they use it to their advantage.
Lack of Cybersecurity Awareness - most small to midsize accounting firms don't have the resources or knowledge to implement robust cybersecurity measures to combat the ever-changing threat landscape.

What's The True Cost of a Cyber-attack?

When accounting firm leadership are asked about the costs of a cyber-attack, most only thought about ransomware and the payment of a ransom in bitcoin. But the risk goes much deeper, and the costs can be significantly higher.

Your clients trust you with some of their most personal and sensitive data. Now imagine you get breached and that data is leaked onto the dark web. Can you imagine the slew of angry and distressed calls from clients you'll be getting? The damage to your firm's reputation could be permanently damaged.

Additionally, you might face regulatory fines or even legal consequences for your apparent lack of willingness to keep your clients' properly secured.

Now's the Time to Take Action

Here are the steps you need to take:

Educate Your Team - ensure that everyone at your firm understands the risks and knows how to spot phishing attempts and other cyber-attacks.
Encrypt Your Communications - when you send sensitive information to clients, is it properly encrypted to protect it from prying eyes? Utilize only secure communication channels when dealing with sensitive information.
Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) - ensures that your critical accounts cannot be accessed with just a login and password, which can be easily be stolen or brute forced using automated methods.
Actively Monitor and Respond - cybersecurity is not a "set and forget" operation. You need to be actively monitoring your systems for suspicious activity. And have an incident response plan in place so you know how to respond if an incident does occur.
Stay Informed - cyber threats are constantly evolving and trying to evade detection. What was secure yesterday might not be today. Stay up to date on the latest threats and best practices.