There are striking similarities between the roles and responsibilities of accountants and cybersecurity professionals, particularly in their need for precision, data protection, and thorough scrutiny before adopting new technologies. Both are working with sensitive information in highly regulated environments, making trust a cornerstone of client relationships.
As digital landscapes evolve and cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, accounting professionals must prioritize solutions to combat this and expand their skill sets to include a proficient understanding of cybersecurity. By learning about and incorporating cybersecurity best practices into their firms, accountants can work to protect clients' sensitive information while boosting their technological skills in an ever-growing digital world.
Here are five cybersecurity best practices that can help accountants enhance and maintain client trust.
1. Evaluate and vet third-party vendors and technologies. One of the first steps toward developing a comprehensive understanding of your potential cybersecurity risks is assessing your tech vendors — both the ones your firm is already working with and any that you consider for future work. Their cybersecurity practices have a direct impact on your firm, regardless of how safe and secure your own systems are.
Find out if the vendors you work with have clear plans in place to not only protect from cybersecurity threats but also to quickly fix any problems that arise. Additionally, if your firm is working with multiple vendors and utilizing multiple platforms, determine how well they work with each other to ensure proper coverage.
2. Adopt a security-minded approach as part of firm culture. Accounting firms manage vast amounts of financial information for their clients, and this makes them a prime target for cybercriminals.
While cybersecurity is not an accountant's main job, it is important for all firm employees to take an active role in staying vigilant and knowing how to identify potential security threats. Phishing attacks remain one of the most common methods of cybersecurity intrusion since these attacks rely on human error — the area that is most vulnerable to a lapse in security.
3. Address human error quickly and completely. We're all human, and we all make mistakes. Therefore, human error is still one of the most common ways for cybercriminals to bypass security protocols and gain access to protected information. Accounting firms need to make sure all employees are up to date on the latest cybersecurity protocols, and this information should be updated with regularity.
Some common steps that can be taken include:
- Hosting company-wide trainings to educate employees about cybersecurity best practices.
- Limiting employee access to certain data and requiring different levels of permission to keep data secure.
- Adding multiple levels of security — such as multifactor authentication or physical passkeys — to make it more difficult for bad actors to access sensitive information.
4. Prioritize process automation and security integration. Having a dedicated security team to provide regular updates to employees and handle any threats that arise is critical to protecting internal and client data.
An internal security team is ideal because they will know firsthand — and in greater detail — what needs to be protected and which controls to implement, but for smaller accounting firms a virtual chief information security officer can be just as proficient for vetting, implementing, and maintaining and implementing cybersecurity solutions. Leaders will have to consider what makes the most sense for their firm, including whether or not workers are remote, in-office, or working in a hybrid capacity.
Once a solution is identified and implemented, prioritize a comprehensive onboarding process to make these new processes and procedures as efficient and effective as possible.
5. Develop and implement risk management plans. As the cybersecurity landscape continues evolving, it will be necessary to maintain an understanding of where improvements can be made and where risks may be inadvertently introduced. The key for managing risk is to think proactively about gaps and risk vectors. In some instances, this may require investments in new solutions if legacy systems cannot keep pace with necessary enhancements. While this may sound costly, it is certainly less than the costs — both
For firms looking to update or overhaul their tech stacks, this provides an opportunity to consolidate disparate systems into fewer, multifunction solutions. This kind of consolidation aids in cybersecurity efforts by reducing the number of different locations where data is stored — therefore reducing the amount of locations where an intrusion could occur.
Conclusion
While learning and implementing cybersecurity may sometimes present as a challenge, accountants should remember that they don't have to do it alone. Cybersecurity professionals and trusted partners are there for support — be it with implementing new systems or dealing with a potential hack. Having a proactive approach to cybersecurity is in line with what it means to be an accountant — a trusted advisor and agent of client's sensitive data.
