From Knowing Why to Knowing How: A Controller’s Look at Cybersecurity

If it affects the bottom line, it’s finance’s responsibility—and few things impact the bottom line as heavily as a data breach. In the past few years, you may have heard terms like phishing, brute force attacks, and ransomware, but what exactly do these mean?

In simplest terms, these terms mean fake emails with malicious links, using a program to guess passwords, and a program that locks your files, respectively. But go beyond these—social engineering schemes designed to trick employees into giving you information, distributed denial of service attacks to shut down your network, and the like and you might be a bit out of your element.

So what should you know and how can you gain a greater understanding of the importance? We’re excited to discuss this below and invite you to a March 9 event to learn more.

Cybersecurity and the Bottom Line

But as we said in our article on the basics of cybersecurity, it affects the bottom line, making each of these reasonably important to your job. After all, the average cost of a data breach globally is $3.92 million and in the US, this jumps up to $8.19 million.

Whether it’s basic steps—SSL and antivirus—or things a bit more complex such as adding a VPN to provide another layer of protection, working with a cloud access security broker, or implementing enterprise mobility management to empower your workforce, understanding the challenges and the talking points can help you minimize costs and increase value.

But often, one of the biggest challenges is the technological knowledge gap that exists between finance and IT, leaving both sides confused on how to protect the firm without breaking the bank.

Luckily, the team at the Controllers Council has secured an hour with a very busy person with a healthy number of accolades. A person with success not only working with finance pros—this is a person who has the knowledge and expertise to provide government officials clarity on cybersecurity. So, if you’re looking for a way to understand cybersecurity, you’re going to want to join us on March 9.

Join Us on March 9 for a Cybersecurity Briefing for Corporate Finance Leaders

Get to know more about how to take yourself from a basic understanding of cybersecurity to taking on the role of proactive cybersecurity presence in the finance space. On March 9, 2021, the Controllers Council will be joined by our esteemed guest, cybersecurity expert Jerry Irvine from Prescient Solutions, who will explain all the things you were afraid to ask about securing yourself.

Irvine, a cybersecurity expert and recent board member of the National Cyber Security Task Force who is currently a member of the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force, the FBI Infragard, and the IT Information Sharing and Collaboration Center.

Free to both members and non-members, this exciting webcast will discuss the top Cybersecurity threats that corporate finance needs to understand, and what steps and processes can be implemented to protect and recover from Cybersecurity breaches. Click here to watch now.