Working from home is more popular than it has ever been in history. CPA and accounting firms, as well as other sorts of small businesses, are affected. Working from home might be tremendously handy, but it also comes with its own set of problems. One of the most significant challenges we’ve seen when working from home, especially for individuals who aren’t used to it, is cybersecurity. Because CPAs and accountants have access to so much sensitive financial information about their clients, cybersecurity is even more critical.
Some Important Tips For Cybersecurity
1. The first step in ensuring your company’s security is to comprehend the emerging cyber threat environment.
Employees have been compelled to complete more work on personal devices, which raises extra security threats, and connectivity and bandwidth difficulties are being tested like never before. As a result, the hazards of data privacy have skyrocketed in this context.
2. Even if your organization is small, cybersecurity is just as critical to you as it is to larger organizations.
Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are required for CPA firms to keep their critical client and company data secure. CPA businesses may now automate security procedures and integrate a more behavioral, always-on approach to keeping data secure thanks to new technology. Partnering with a cloud service provider with extensive data and information security knowledge as well as current experience with AI, machine learning, and automation can literally save your firm money.
Building remote work ecosystems, which include Virtual Desktop Solutions, synchronous and asynchronous communication and sharing channels, and virtual meeting technologies, to name a few tools, are all IT elements that prepare CPA and accounting firms, large and small, to remain agile and scale up when they enter growth mode. CPA businesses must invest more extensively in IT tools and systems that enable this kind of environment to be able to react fast and position a company up for future change and growth.
3. Continually educating and training your personnel on cybersecurity best practices, as well as updating your company’s security plan as needed.
4. A secure virtual private network, or VPN, connection should be used to gain remote access to your computers.
Without a VPN, you should never use Microsoft Remote Desktop. Hackers will almost certainly gain access to your data as a result of this. If setting up a VPN isn’t an option, consider one of the few remote access providers that supports two-factor authentication. Logmein is an excellent option.
5. Your network’s wireless access has to be secured.
Of course, passwords should be used, but a guest network should be set up for visitors who require internet access. This disables guest user access to your network’s computers and resources. This is especially important if one of the guest’s laptops or gadgets is contaminated.