It is no secret that CPAs have faced an increasing level of cyber-security threats, even under normal conditions. Audit Analytics reports in its June 2020…
It was a bellwether year for cyber-crime worldwide in 2019. As a patchwork of new regulations began to emerge in the United States and the…
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Herman Wouk wrote, “The will not to believe. It is simple human nature. When the mind cannot grasp or face up to…
A call comes in from the helpdesk: A user reports that she has a red screen on her desktop asking for a cryptocurrency payment and…
Bill Burr, the author of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) password standards in 2003 (NIST SP 800-63), conceded in an interview with The…
Sometimes the highest and best value that CPAs can provide to their clients and employers is to prevent problems from occurring or to recognize events…
Around the globe, cybercrime cost society over $3 trillion in 2018, and this cost is forecast to rise to $6 trillion by 2021 (“Cybercrime Damages…
Should CPA Firms Be Worried about Data Breach Claims?
Hurdles to Establishing Standing and Demonstrating Economic Viability
Driven by unceasing news reports, CPA firms are growing increasingly concerned that data breaches are increasing in both frequency and severity. With this deluge of…
Where The Money Is
Doing What’s Right for the Profession
Editor's note: This month, we introduce a new column dedicated to the current state of cybersecurity and how cybercrime affects CPAs and auditors. Each installment will…
ICYMI | The Equifax Data Breach
What CPAs and Firms Need to Know Now
In the wake of the Equifax computer breach—in which key personal information of 145 million Americans was stolen—it may be correct to assume that anyone…
New York State recently adopted a “first-in-the-nation” set of cybersecurity compliance requirements that impact any businesses or organizations that report to the Department of Financial…
The Internet is an essential tool for CPAs and business professionals. Accountants use the Internet for communicating within and without an organization; retrieving, processing and…
Embracing Compliance for the Sake of Cybersecurity
Looking Beyond Legal Requirements to Find Best Practices
Although compliance laws exist to protect both employers and employees, they draw possibly the most complaints of any corporate requirement. Compliance is not optional, however,…
Enterprise Technology Risk in a New COSO ERM World
Eight Challenges Facing Management
The release of the revised Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) Enterprise Risk Management—Integrated Framework could not have come at a better time for technology risk professionals and…
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) provides general standards of conduct for plan fiduciaries. A breach of fiduciary duty can result in personal liability…
A new series of cyber-related class action claims against at least 15 law firms could have serious implications into how CPA firms, and many of…
Three years ago, the server at the author's firm was hacked by a Russian scammer who got into the system by sending a phishing email…
The Chief Information Security Officer
The New CFO of Information Security
Traditionally, CPAs have considered the chief financial officer (CFO) as the guardian of a business's organizational data. It was and remains the CFO's responsibility to…
As other articles throughout this issue illustrate, keeping information secure is a paramount concern for today's businesses and their advisors. Cybersecurity is critical for accountants…