5 Low- or No-Cost Ways for CPAs to Help Slam the Door on Cybercriminals
The AICPA is participating in National Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a series of blog posts to help CPAs understand the role they can play in addressing cybersecurity issues. This is our first post in this series.
October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but fighting cybercrime is a year-round battle. As experienced keepers of confidential information, CPAs are uniquely positioned to support cybersecurity initiatives for their firms, clients, or employers. But cybersecurity is costly, and budgets are always limited, especially in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Consider these five simple steps CPAs can take to help protect data without breaking the bank.
- Know email scams and warn others. People are increasingly the weak link in organizations’ cyber armor. You know not to give your checking account info to an unknown foreign government dignitary. But what if you get an email from your CEO instructing you to wire funds for a deal that you know is about to close? This scenario was all too real last year for a finance employee who was tricked into wiring $730,000 to a bank in China, according to an FBI report. Since the FBI started tracking business e-mail scams in late 2013, it has compiled statistics on more than 7,000 U.S. companies that were targeted. Total losses exceeded $740 million.
Continue reading "5 Low- or No-Cost Ways for CPAs to Help Slam the Door on Cybercriminals" »