Locked Down: Cybersecurity for Accountants and Financial Professionals
Every file, client record, and email you send holds sensitive financial data — and cybercriminals know it. This session shows you how to protect your systems, secure client trust, and stay one step ahead of data breaches, scams, and ransomware attacks.
3 CPD units December 5, 2025
What will set you apart
By completing this course you will gain the following competencies
- Understand the biggest cybersecurity threats facing accounting and finance teams
- Learn how hackers target small firms and what simple defences stop them
- Secure client data across emails, devices, and cloud platforms
- Build habits that reduce risk — passwords, backups, and user access control
- Recognise phishing and social engineering tactics before it’s too late
- Create a practical cybersecurity checklist for your practice or business
Event breakdown
- The rise of financial data breaches in small and medium businesses
- Understanding the true cost of a cyberattack — reputational and financial
- Legal and professional obligations under POPIA and CIBA standards
- Common attack types: phishing, ransomware, and social engineering
- Insider threats — unintentional and malicious risks from staff and contractors
- Case studies: real-world accounting firm breaches and lessons learned
- Securing emails, cloud storage, and shared financial data
- Password management, access control, and multi-factor authentication
- Backup routines, encryption, and secure file sharing
- POPIA compliance and data protection best practices
- Drafting and maintaining an IT Security Policy
- Monitoring and responding to security incidents
- Cybersecurity checklist for accountants and bookkeepers
- Affordable tools and systems for small practices
- Q&A and group discussion: securing your practice step by step
Category: Technology & InnovationType: CPD CourseCPD category: Technology
Description
Cybersecurity isn’t just an IT issue — it’s a business survival issue. With financial data being one of the most valuable (and targeted) assets online, accountants and bookkeepers must know how to keep it safe. This two-hour session covers the essentials of protecting financial systems from cybercrime, data leaks, and internal errors. You’ll learn how to spot common scams, manage passwords securely, set up access controls, and maintain safe data storage and backup routines. Real-life examples will show how even small lapses can lead to major damage — and how to prevent them. Walk away with a clear action plan and tools to strengthen your practice’s digital defences and client trust.
You will earn a certificate
On successful completion you will receive a certificate for 3 CPD units in Technology.
Requirements
- Laptop, desktop, or mobile device with internet access
- Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, or Firefox browser