Accounting and financial services
Cybersecurity for accounting and financial services firms
ACS Cyber provides managed cybersecurity and incident response for accounting, tax, and financial services firms: 24/7 monitoring from our in-house SOC, FTC Safeguards Rule and written information security plan readiness, and in-house forensic investigation when something goes wrong. Start with a free 30-minute consultation, or call our 24/7 incident line if you have an active incident.
- FTC Safeguards Rule readiness
- Written information security plans
- Tax-season phishing defense
- 24/7 security monitoring
Financial risk
The risks we see in accounting and financial services
CPA firms, tax preparers, bookkeepers, and financial advisors hold data that attackers actively seek: identities, tax records, and account details. Phishing often rises around tax deadlines, when a convincing fake client message is more likely to work.
A written information security plan (WISP) is a document that describes how your firm protects client information: who is responsible, which safeguards are in place, and how you respond to an incident.
- Tax-season phishing. Fake client documents, spoofed tax-authority messages, and lookalike software login pages target staff when they have the least time to check.
- Client data exposure. Tax returns, identity documents, and account details move through email, portals, and shared folders that all need consistent protection.
- Account takeover and payment fraud. A compromised mailbox can be used to request payment changes or send fraudulent instructions to your clients.
- Regulatory expectations. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the FTC Safeguards Rule set expectations for protecting customer information, and IRS Publication 4557 guides tax professionals toward a written plan.
Built for firms without a security department
Many accounting and advisory firms have no dedicated security team, and should not need to build one.
We act as that team: watching your environment around the clock, keeping your security plan current, and explaining risk in terms partners can act on. Atlantic Computer Systems, our parent company, calls this model a fractional cybersecurity team.
Have you been compromised?
If a mailbox or client data has been compromised, call our 24/7 incident line
Whether an attacker has taken over a mailbox, sent fraudulent payment requests, or reached client tax and financial records, we contain the threat, find out what happened through in-house forensic investigation, work with your insurer and counsel when you authorize it, and help you strengthen controls so it does not happen again. If money has moved, call your bank’s fraud line first.
Client records exposed? See data breach and exposure support. Notification decisions, including any under the FTC Safeguards Rule and state breach-notification laws, belong with your counsel; our investigation supplies the technical facts.
Financial-sector incidents we respond to
- Business Email Compromise
- Fraudulent payment instructions
- Compromised software logins
- Exposed client records
- Phishing account takeover
- Ransomware
How ACS Cyber helps
Services matched to financial-sector risk
Each service covers a specific exposure, and one accountable team coordinates all of them.
Round-the-clock monitoring
Our in-house SOC analysts monitor endpoints, Microsoft 365, identities, and email around the clock, and can disable a compromised account under containment rules agreed with you in advance.
Safeguards Rule and WISP readiness
We help you assess gaps against the FTC Safeguards Rule, build or update a written information security plan, and prepare evidence of the controls behind it.
Security program leadership
A virtual CISO helps you oversee the program, run risk assessments, review vendors, and report to partners, with clear guidance on what to fix next.
Incident response and forensics
If a mailbox or workstation is compromised, we help contain it, preserve evidence, and work to establish through in-house forensic investigation what client data was accessed.
Vulnerability management
Regular scanning and configuration reviews of workstations, servers, and remote access, prioritized by risk and validated after remediation.
Seasonal phishing training
Training and phishing simulations timed ahead of tax season and other peak periods, so staff recognize fake client requests and lookalike login pages.
Readiness
What we help you prepare
Safeguards and documentation that support your obligations, your insurer’s questions, and your clients’ trust.
- A written information security plan that reflects IRS Publication 4557 guidance
- A risk assessment that supports your FTC Safeguards Rule program
- Multi-factor authentication for email, tax and accounting software, and remote access
- Encryption and access controls for client data in storage and in transit
- Oversight documentation for vendors and service providers
- An incident response plan with notification steps prepared alongside your legal counsel
- A secure way to exchange client files in place of email attachments
- Accurate answers and supporting evidence for cyber-insurance applications
Getting started
How we start
A clear path from the first conversation to a working security program, scheduled around your busy season.
01
Free 30-minute consultation
Talk with a cybersecurity expert about your firm, your clients’ data, and your obligations. You leave with a clear next step, whether or not we work together.
02
Assessment
We review identities, email, endpoints, remote access, vendors, and your current written plan to find where the real risk sits.
03
Roadmap
You receive a prioritized plan in business language, with the most important safeguards first and heavier work scheduled for quieter months.
04
Protect and improve
We put monitoring and controls in place, keep your written plan current, and review progress with you throughout the year.
Questions
Accounting and financial services cybersecurity questions
ACS Cyber provides managed cybersecurity and incident response for CPA firms, tax preparers, bookkeepers, financial advisors, and other financial services firms nationwide. As the MSSP and cybersecurity division of Atlantic Computer Systems, we combine 24/7 monitoring from our in-house SOC with Safeguards Rule and WISP readiness support. Our parent company also provides financial services IT for firms that want their day-to-day technology managed.
If your firm prepares tax returns, IRS guidance says yes: it points to the FTC Safeguards Rule as the source of that requirement, and Publication 4557 describes what the plan should cover. Your legal counsel can confirm how the rule applies to your firm. We help you build a plan that reflects how your firm actually works, then keep it current.
If money may have moved, call your bank’s fraud line first, then our 24/7 incident line at 1-650-300-7557. We secure the mailbox, preserve evidence, and find out how the attacker got in. See BEC and wire fraud response for what happens next.
We help contain the incident and work to establish through in-house forensic investigation what was accessed. We coordinate with your counsel and insurer when you authorize it, and your counsel leads any notification decisions. See data breach and exposure support.
We schedule heavier changes for quieter months, run phishing simulations ahead of peak periods, and keep monitoring steady when your team has the least time to spare.
Often, yes. Smaller firms hold the same kinds of client data as larger ones, usually with fewer people to protect it. We scale the program to your size, starting with the controls that reduce the most risk.
No. We work alongside your current IT provider or internal staff. Atlantic Computer Systems, our parent company, provides IT support for accounting and CPA firms, so the fixes we recommend can be carried through in the underlying IT when you want that. Learn about Atlantic Computer Systems.
Financial security
Protect client data before your next busy season
Start with a free 30-minute consultation. We will talk through your systems, your written plan, and your obligations, and suggest a practical next step.