August 22, 2022

Where Can You Get IT Support For Accountants, and Why Do You Need This?

Where Can You Get IT Support For Accountants, and Why Do You Need This?

You’ve spent years building up your reputation and business with clients who have come to trust you. They rely on your expertise in accounting to keep their company thriving. But all it takes is one weak password, an unattended computer, or a single phishing scam to ruin all those years of hard work.

IT support for accountants is different from IT support for any other business because you are likely protecting even more sensitive data than a retail store, for example. While they are handling credit cards and home addresses, you may have access to social security numbers and other far more personal information that threatens the identity of your clients. So, it is essential that your accounting IT support is thorough to keep that crucial data as safe as possible.

You wouldn’t risk your own bank account or personal information, so why risk your clients’? It would help if you had more robust IT support as an accountant to protect that sensitive data. Get in touch with Tech Eagles today, and we can help you with your industry-specific IT concerns.

What’s at Stake If Your Business Doesn’t Have Adequate IT Support for Accountants?

Your clients put a lot of faith in your business when they share their sensitive data with you. Suppose you are helping a client prepare for retirement, or you are working to help a young couple buy their first home and maintain a healthy savings account. In those cases, you assist people in managing some of the most financially delicate moments in their lives. You cannot take these responsibilities lightly.

As an accountant, you risk losing your clients, your income, and the trust you’ve built up for your business if cybercriminals access your files. That’s why you need IT services for accountants from experts that understand just how important your job is to so many people. Without the proper IT support, you risk falling victim to cybercriminals.

What Are The Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Accounting Firms Face?

Not only do you risk losing clients and your reputation to a data breach, but you also risk being sued. To avoid these complications, take a moment to go over what cybersecurity measures you have in place. Some of the vulnerabilities accounting firms like yours might encounter include:

  • Weak Passwords: Human error is expected when it comes to anything in life, and the choice of passwords is no exception. People often choose passwords that are somehow significant to them, which frequently means their passwords are weak and easy to figure out. A child’s name followed by a birthday might seem challenging to discover, but all a hacker must know about you is that you have a child, what their name is, and what their birthday is to guess that combination quickly.
  • Phishing Scams: If you let it, one email is enough to bring down your entire company. Phishing scams are widespread and often come through to your inbox, disguised as an official email from a higher-up or a legitimate business. They are easy to fall for but less easy to spot unless you know what you’re looking for in the message.
  • Malware: This danger can come from many places. Malware is malicious and will attack indiscriminately, even in seemingly harmless places like a coffee shop on an unsecured network. It can leave your systems vulnerable to attack by creating a door for cybercriminals to waltz into your network.
  • Outdated Equipment: Think about it this way. You wouldn’t use software from 1997 to do your job. Why are you using old equipment when technology has rapidly changed, even in the last five years? Having updated hardware and a regular schedule to update your hardware is essential to keeping your protection up against hackers. Older systems become unsupported by the manufacturers of the operating systems, making them obsolete over time. It would help if you were vigilant about keeping up with setups that can still receive patches, as computer equipment often needs updates to maintain the top level of data security.

How Can You Improve Your Cybersecurity Measures?

One of the first things you can do to improve your cybersecurity and increase your protection against malicious hackers is to incorporate multifactor authentication into your procedures. Also called two-factor authentication, or 2FA, this process requires your staff to verify it’s them logging into a system or computer with a second device. Often the 2FA confirmation comes to the employee’s cell phone, and they confirm they are the person trying to access the file or hardware.

Another step you can take to secure your business is to establish data backups in a cloud-based system. Data backups are essential to keeping your data secure in case of a data breach or total data loss in a cyberattack. They provide a starting point for your business to ensure minimal disruptions. At the same time, your IT team works out what happened.

Educating your employees on security safety, phishing scams, and safe web navigation methods can also add immediate defenses against cyberattacks. When your employees know what to look for, they can better support your cybersecurity efforts to protect your business.

Of course, working with IT professionals is the most effective method of protecting your data. When you’re ready to get the IT support you need as accountants, turn to the IT professionals at Tech Eagles. We will help you determine the weaknesses in your current systems and work with you to strengthen your defenses against cyberattacks.

Get the Accounting IT Support Your Business Needs

As a small to a midsized accounting firm, we understand how special your relationship with your clients is and what you need to do to maintain that relationship. If you are struggling with keeping up with cybersecurity in our increasingly digital world, let Tech Eagles help you with our IT support for accountants. We will help you keep your client data safe and secure from cyberattacks. Contact us today to get started!


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