A new study by US-based IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) and UK-based ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) asks the question ‘Does your finance function have a plan to fail?’
‘Cybersecurity – Fighting Crime’s Enfant Terrible,’ is an assessment of the cyber-threat landscape across the globe. It tracks current and future cybersecurity trends and highlights particular areas that are likely to have a direct impact on the future of the accountancy profession.
Accountants and finance professionals can, and should, play a leading role in defining key areas of a strategic approach to mitigating cybercrime risks, says the study. These include:
- Creating reasonable estimates of financial impact that different types of cybersecurity breaches will cause, so that a business can be realistic about its ability to respond to an attack and/or recover from it;
- Defining risk management strategy;
- Helping businesses to establish priorities for their most valuable digital resources, in order to implement a ‘layered’ approach to cybersecurity; and,
- Closely following the work of government and various regulators, in order to have clear, up-to-date information on adequate legislation and on requirements for adequate disclosure and prompt investigation of cybersecurity breaches.
The study found that accountants and other finance professionals clearly understand the importance of the issue. 85 percent of respondents said that management at their respective companies was concerned about cybercrime risks.
The full report can be downloaded here (PDF).
