Finance and Accounting Professionals and Cybersecurity Awareness

In this article, the author shows how financial professionals can become involved in creating more secure information technology (IT) environments. It is certainly beneficial to know the facts surrounding large security breaches and to have a basic understanding of the consequences of security problems. But accountants should move beyond that level of factual knowledge and engage in proactive thinking about security issues in their organizations and, ultimately, translate this thinking into actions that can help thwart cyber criminals. The ideas presented in this article can be implemented by anyone in a managerial or administrative role and include fundamental behaviors, organizational policies, and software tools that can help identify and prevent common threats from illegal cyber activity. While the article concentrates on basic security solutions, guidance is also presented on additional steps to take when the organization is ready to move to higher levels of sophistication and maturity in cybersecurity awareness. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.