Big Four emphasise cyber security

The chairman of KPMG UK, Simon Collins, has said that while company boards and chief executives previously possessed anecdotal knowledge of cyber security, they have now promoted it to a higher level of importance, according to a recent Financial Times report.

The news comes in the wake of an incident earlier this year, in which a major accounting firm warned its clients about threats posed by cyber criminals, but quickly realised that the warning – a presentation – had been breached.

The obvious irony shows not just the level of importance accounting firms are placing on cyber security, but also how prone they are to being a victim of attacks.

Technology firms have traditionally dominated cyber security in business, from established antivirus manufacturers like Symantec and Intel Security (aka McAfee), to modern threat detection firms such as FireEye.

However, as the problem is now highlighted higher on the agenda, and we see an increase in cyber crime complexity, accounting firms are looking to improve their resilience, hiring more personnel to meet the demand for support.

Information security partner for Ernst & Young, Ken Allan, said:

“We’re now in a market where academia, governments and competitors are all looking for the same people. But the bad guys are looking for the same people too.”

Accountancy is not the only industry targeted by cyber criminals. SMEs of all shapes, sizes and sectors are a potential target for attacks, and they could do a lot worse than to follow the example of KPMG. Advertising information security vacancies would be a smart move in the protection of company data.