Cyber Security
AAFCPAs Urges Vigilance as Clients Respond to Uptick in Whaling Schemes, Cyber Threats
AAFCPAs would like to make clients aware that within the past two weeks, we have received two accounts from clients reporting their executives have been targeted by sophisticated whaling schemes requesting transfers of money. AAFCPAs would like to take this moment to remind you again of the critical importance of taking measures to protect against […]
AAFCPAs to Present Educational Workshop on Mitigating Fraud Risks for National Business Officers
AAFCPAs’ John Buckley, CPA, CGMA, along with AAFCPAs’ client Cynthia Fanikos, Chief Financial Officer, Saint John’s Preparatory School (Danvers,MA), will present an educational workshop titled “An Inside Job: Safeguarding Schools by Assessing and Mitigating Fraud Risks with Internal Controls and Cyber Security.” This session is part of the National Business Officers Association’s (NBOA) Business Office NOW: East […]
Data Backup & Recovery Plans Can Protect Your Organization from the Consequences of Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware is one of the most prevalent forms of malicious cyber-attacks facing businesses today. “The advent of new tools that wrap victims’ data with tough encryption technology, hard-to-trace digital currency like Bitcoin, and even online sites that offer to do the data ransoming in return for a piece of the action, have made this method […]
Installing Patches Immediately Helps Protect Your Organization from Cyber Vulnerabilities
Cyber criminals often exploit known or not yet known vulnerabilities of the Operating System and/or other critical systems, such as a web server or a database, in order to penetrate your network/systems. In the recent WannaCry attack, hackers exploited the Microsoft Windows Server Message Block protocol and encrypted data demanding ransomware. There was a patch […]
AAFCPAs Guidance in Response to Equifax Data Breach
As you may be aware, Equifax, one of the United States’ three major consumer credit reporting agencies has been breached, and personal information of approximately 143 million Americans has been compromised. Information, including: names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s licenses, stored in Equifax’s databases have been stolen. Additionally, credit card numbers for […]
Hurricane Harvey Creates Opportunities for Cyber Criminals
AAFCPAs would like to make clients aware of a recent alert issued by the US Department of Homeland Security warning citizens about the possible emergence of malicious cyber activity by those seeking to capitalize on interest from Hurricane Harvey. AAFCPAs reminds readers to follow some basic guidelines: Keep your antivirus, malware and other computer software […]
Cyber Security: Keep Your Online Accounts Safe
Cyber fraud continues to escalate and evolve, and security requires vigilance. We would like to remind you that your entire organization must learn and adapt over time. AAFCPAs Wealth Management, an affiliate of AAFCPAs, has provided a summary of some of the threats of significant concern in 2017 used to steal identity and login credentials. After gaining […]
Best Practices for Complying with HIPAA & Safeguarding Patient PHI Accessible to Your Business Associates
Healthcare is predicted to be the most targeted industry for cyberattacks in 2017, according to the 2017 Data Breach Industry Forecast from Experian. “Electronic health records remain likely to be a top target for hackers,” Experian found. To further heighten & complicate these risks, providers’ responsibilities for protecting personal health information (PHI) under the […]
Measures to Protect Against Malicious Ransomware
In the wake of the recent, global WannaCrypt ransomware attack, which crippled thousands of computers in more than 200,000 organizations and 150 countries, AAFCPAs would like to remind clients of the critical importance of taking measures to protect against malicious cyber-attack. What is ransomware and WannaCrypt? Ransomware is a malicious software that locks a device, […]