Currently, more than 75% of Canadian businesses are concerned about an increase in cyberattacks, but less than half are planning to increase their security budget for data protection and compliance.<\/p>\n
These companies are risking a lot by putting off implementing cybersecurity solutions, because failing to protect sensitive data can result in significant fines and penalties and erode the trust of customers and partners.<\/p>\n
Accounting firms possess a large amount of sensitive data and confidential information. As such, they need to be very well prepared to face cybercriminals.<\/p>\n
In this article, our IT infrastructure management<\/a> specialists explain the importance of data protection in the accounting industry and suggest ways to reinforce it.<\/p>\n For companies in the accounting industry, data protection is not only a matter of ethics, but also a matter of compliance. Accounting firms that do not meet the authorities\u2019 data protection requirements will face repercussions.<\/p>\n For example, under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA<\/a>), accounting firms can be fined $100,000 for improperly reporting a privacy breach.<\/p>\n Accounting firms can also be fined up to $10,000,000 for unsolicited commercial messages containing malware under Canada\u2019s anti-spam legislation (CASL<\/a>).<\/p>\n Accounting firms around the world can also face penalties of more than $60,000,000 if they violate the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR<\/a>) by mishandling EU residents\u2019 personal information.<\/p>\n Cyber threats (malware, phishing, ransomware, etc.) continue to present new risks. Since the Digital Privacy Act has expanded companies\u2019 responsibilities under PIPEDA to include the obligation to report data breaches, repercussions for non-compliance may include litigation in addition to the fines mentioned above.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Book an appointment with us<\/strong><\/p>\nThe potential consequences of sensitive data breaches for accounting firms<\/h2>\n