Building Unbreakable Trust for Your Clients
Unfortunately, data breaches are becoming increasingly common and the cost of these breaches is rising. This offers a significant threat to industries such as accountancy firms as their business is based upon trust. The recent PwC 2025 Global Digital Trust Insights highlights the critical importance of cybersecurity in maintaining this trust.
In this article we discuss how cyber security is now a key driver of trust in the accountancy sector and the vast risk that a cyber breach could cause.
Key Findings from PwC report
The PwC report is a global review of trust and cyber security. The report reveals some stark realities:
- Only a tiny fraction (2%) of businesses have implemented firm-wide cyber resilience.
- The average cost of a data breach is a staggering US$3.3 million.
- Customer trust and brand integrity are key drivers for cybersecurity investment.
These figures underscore the urgent need for accountancy firms to prioritise cybersecurity. Clients entrust firms with sensitive financial data, and any breach can have devastating consequences, not only financially but also in terms of reputational damage and loss of client confidence.
Getting Started
When looking at this research and thinking how can you get started with cyber security. The first place is to understand your current position, normally done with a cyber security review from a third party. This can be a useful tool as it can also be used to demonstrate the strength of your cyber security to your clients.
During the review phase considering things like passwords and access management, device management, multi factor authentication, backups and 24/7 services such as Managed XDR/SOC solutions. There are 2 obvious places to focus for most businesses:
- Securing the Microsoft Technology Stack
- Improving cyber awareness.
Start with Microsoft
Most organisations are running Microsoft 365 and so one of the most cost effective and simplest approaches can be to buy a bundle like business premium or enterprise E3 or E5 that includes access to things like Entra ID, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Sentinel and Endpoint Manager.
All of these will radically improve your cyber security helping you secure access, emails, devices and monitor the security data available. Find out more about the Microsoft 365 security suite here.
Improving Cyber Awareness
Cyber security awareness is something that sounds extremely simple but can be one of the most effective barriers against cyber criminals. Ultimately people are the weakness that most cyber attacks focus on.
Tricking people into giving away details, opening files they shouldn’t and taking advantage of weak passwords are the most common attacks. Carrying out some cyber security awareness training can keep your people alert and help reduce the power of these attacks significantly.
How Bridgeall Can Help
Bridgeall understands the unique challenges faced by accountancy firms in safeguarding client data and building trust. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to enhance your cybersecurity posture and protect your firm’s most valuable asset: its reputation. Cyber security is no longer an optional area for accountants it becomes a critical area of focus.
At Bridgeall we have both a cyber security assessment and a Microsoft 365 security review to help you get started. Both small consultancy exercises to evaluate your cyber security and provide you a framework for improvement and a pathway to complete cyber security. Contact us today to discuss either of these.
