Just last month one of the “big four” accounting firms, Deloitte, was hit by hackers.
The hackers were able to access all of their clients financial data, usernames and passwords.
This went on for months without anyone noticing.
This could have been avoided if the company implemented best practices when it comes to security.
The reason why the hackers were able to get access to so much sensitive information is because an employee didn’t have two factor authentication enabled.
This has damaged their reputation with all of their clients even though only a “few” clients actually had their data meddled with, at least as far the internal investigations have admitted to.
Here are three ways that you can improve your firm’s Cyber Security.
- Work with IT professionals who focus on Cyber security. Hire an IT consultant who can check your network and tell you where it is most vulnerable to attack. They should also check that data encryption has been enabled on hard drives and servers. This is an area that Simplicit prides itself on. If you need assistance you can contact us here. An important responsibility for accountants is to make sure their clients’ data is secure when it’s in their custody.
- Invest in Data Breach Insurance. This pays for the cost of cleaning up a data breach. They will also reach out on your behalf to clients and guide them on what to do.
- Make sure to have reliable backups of data- One of the more insidious ways that hackers are hitting companies is by installing ransomware. This where they encrypt all of your files, locking you out of them and you have to pay in order for them to unencrypt. Which they might not even know how to do in some situations. Also make sure that your backups are tested and that they actually work.