14th November 2018: Not-for-profit membership organisation, Secure Chorus yesterday hosted the second in its Thought Leadership Platform series, with the event held at London’s Level39 in Canary Wharf, addressing data security in the financial services sector. The industry round table brought together information security experts with accountancy sector professionals, including representatives and members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), the London Society of Chartered Accountants (LSCA), the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland (ICAI).
The Thought Leadership Platform is a pro bono interactive round table providing an opportunity for business leaders from different sectors to discuss information security issues with a cross section of information security industry experts, all of which are members of Secure Chorus.
Elisabetta Zaccaria
Accountancy firms hold, exchange, outsource and otherwise process a wealth of sensitive data with their business ecosystems, including clients, advisors and suppliers. Loss of sensitive information could adversely impact the services accountancy firms provide. The round table explored why accountancy firms have become a target for cyber criminals, while examining what is at stake for the sector. It also discussed some of the most significant technological and regulatory changes that have made data security a key requirement for any business.
Secure Chorus Chairman Elisabetta Zaccaria said: “Multistakeholder engagement and cooperative approaches to cyber security challenges across sectors is of vital importance. It’s at the core of everything we do at Secure Chorus. That’s why we launched the Thought Leadership Platform initiative, to bring together cyber security experts that can offer knowledge, expertise and competencies to business leaders. Our approach is to provide an inclusive process that creates an improved awareness of the risks of cyber crime.”
Key takeaway points from the Thought Leadership Platform included questions about the mitigation of risks currently shouldered by accountancy firms. The question of what further measures could be taken to increase security was also raised, especially for smaller accountancy practices. These discussion points suggest a heightened awareness of an escalation in cyber threat to the accountancy sector. The round table also recognised cyber threat as wider than that of simply a technology issue, with it being seen also as a business challenge requiring a more holistic approach.
Discussing the context for the need for increased cyber security within the accountancy sector, Helen Brennan, President of the LSCA, said “The Thought Leadership Platform has left us in no doubt that there is still work to be done if the accountancy sector is to develop robust cyber security strategies to protect our critical data from cyber attack. We have benefitted greatly from the shared expertise and knowledge on offer at the round table discussion.”
About Secure Chorus
Secure Chorus is a not-for-profit membership organisation serving as a platform for multi-stakeholder cooperation, for the development of forward-looking strategies, common technology standards and tangible capabilities in the field of information security.
For more information visit www.securechorus.org and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter .
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For further information please contact:
Secure Chorus Ltd, via PRPR
Elisabetta Zaccaria, Chairman
Roderick Hodgson, Director
PRPR
Peter Rennison
Email: pr@prpr.co.uk , Phone number: +44 (0) 7831 208109
