Focus on Forensic Accounting & Fraud 2011

people. They get overwhelmed. Most of the companies that get breached don’t find out about it by themselves, they find out from a third party, or law enforcement. The problem is most people don’t know how to detect security breaches, let alone fight them,” she says.

The good news, she adds, is governments are becoming more aware of the situation and are looking at developing cyber crime strategies, including implementing legislation targeting those that commit such offences.

She points to the example set by financial institutions, which have increasingly collaborated with law enforcement to help find perpetrators and bring them to justice.

One challenge for which there is no immediate answer, however, is that many of the crime rings are based in countries that don’t have the appropriate laws for cyber crime, or extradition treaties, so apprehending perpetrators can be especially difficult.

Significant investments in IT over the past decade need to be complemented by bringing in people who can use the technology to alert executives if something is

� Bad things can come in small packages

It’s 2011, do you know where your data is? With new gadgets seemingly hitting the market every few months, it’s no wonder corporations are increasingly worried about wide-scale theft.

situation as safe as it’s ever been.

you can’t get it back,” Bowman says.

Breaches, however, will still occur. When companies find their data has been compromised, their first response should be to pull in some technology professionals to determine exactly what has happened.

Then there’s the unenviable task of informing the affected individuals about the breach so they can take steps to prevent identity theft.

While Brian Bowman,
a privacy lawyer and
partner with Pitblado
llP in Winnipeg, admits
the growing use of
highly portable devices
and memory sticks
to share information
makes guarding it more
challenging, he believes
technological checks
and balances make the
“you can’t respond to
it until you know what
you’re dealing with. look
at the data that’s been
compromised and see
how bad it is, and then
try to get it back. In some
cases, you need to realize
If your company has been
successfully targeted,
“you’ve got to put your
tail between your legs and
let (customers) know,”
Bowman says.

out of the ordinary. There also needs to be a shift within the organization, Gliga-Belavic says.

“Most of the time, cyber crime has been the focus of IT departments but it needs to have more visibility at the ex-

ecutive level. This is the complexity of doing business today. Companies need to change the way cyber crime is addressed. It needs to be the senior leaders’ responsibility. It’s not an IT problem anymore, it’s a business problem,” she says.

The Accountant’s Handbook of Fraud Prevention and Detection

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