Town hall takeaways: Cybersecurity secrets revealed
SmartVault Chief Information Security Officer Luke Kiely led a conversation during the MACPA's monthly town hall meeting on Aug. 20 that focused on cybersecurity and key ways in which CPAs can protect themselves, their organizations, and their clients. If you missed the meeting, here are three key takeaways:
Most cybercriminals are not geniuses. They are ordinary criminals who exploit people who make simple mistakes. Arguably, these breaches are among the most dangerous because they are mundane in nature. They’re the result of victims not having the right security safeguards in place.
The Venn diagram of cybersecurity is an overlap of people, processes, and technology. If any one of those things is missing, there will be a gap in your security.
CPAs are among the best professionals to help clients become more secure because they are analytical and risk-aware. As a result, they need to be absolutely ruthless about their vendor due diligence. "You’re effectively putting client data into someone else’s hands," Kiely said. "You need to be absolutely certain that when a vendor says 'We’re secure,' they mean it."
You need a cyber-aware workforce, and that starts with training your people to not just detect threats but to react to them. Your cybersecurity training needs to be real, relevant, and continuous.
If you'd like to watch the August town hall meeting in its entirety, it will be replayed at 9 a.m. ET on Sept. 3. Get details and register here.
Kiely suggests the following resources for news, guidance, and compliance information:
Government / compliance resources