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Caution – Cybercriminals Are Targeting Business Accountants



As per a report, the average economic cost of cyber attacks across organisations of India is $10.4 million. The number in itself indicates the need for placing cybercrime security in India on a top priority.

Similar to banks, accounting firms also hold the client’s valuable and sensitive data that includes their taxation numbers, bank balance, login details and so on.

This, however, makes business accounting firms an attractive target for cybercriminals. Moreover, these criminals are quite active in finding new routes to steal the company’s confidential information.

And, the consequences of a cybercriminal getting access to private data are quite serious. A single instance of cyber attack holds the potential to completely shut down the entire accounting firm.

Hackers have numerous methods to attack business, which are namely phishing, spyware, keylogger, etc.

Ransomware is a common attack method, and its results are devastating. To gain control of the computer system, ransomware encrypts files and blocks access to the computer system before one makes a secure payment. Consequently, all the data get erased from the computer. Further, the data could also be misused.

Accountants, now have to rise through all the odds and take actions to protect their firms by integrating cybersecurity. Following are some ways through which accountants can keep their cybersecurity in place.

1. Deploy endpoint protection - To ensure security, search some endpoint protection platforms. The best route would be to select endpoint protection that can be deployed remotely and managed from a central location.

When you make the right choice of an endpoint protection platform, make it a point to include a strong anti-exploit component.

This step is essential to shield unpatched programs and legacy systems.

2. Secure network devices – Scanning and printing important documents is a routine task in accountancy firms. These tasks are no doubt, are accomplished through internal network devices store and process data. These devices are equally vulnerable as other network endpoint devices. Ensure that all the devices are secured and it is safe to store and transmit the data.

3. Implement secured digital signature – Digital signatures are quite important an widely used when it comes to the accounting profession. So, Inculcate data protection where users can freely and securely add digital signatures to unlimited documents.

4. Encrypted communication - Email communication is a sensitive area. Moreover, communication in business is impossible without email communication. Using a secure email program that encrypts messages and ensures safety.

5. Educate your staff – Everyone in your staff needs to carefully manage the client’s data. They also need to practice caution on managing a client’s personal information and the websites they visit. Besides, frequently employees access emails on their mobile devices from a different location, which might not be secure. It is not only the responsibility of the IT manager but an effort of the entire company to educate the workforce about threats and how to safeguard from them.

So, these were a few common security measures for cybercrime security in India.

Techno Legal Consultants understand that cyber security in India is a matter of prominence. They offer cyber law compliance audit, cybercrime investigation & other cyber legal services in India.














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