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Starting in January 2024, the new CPA exam assesses the knowledge, skills, and competencies accountants need to thwart cyberattacks on accounting data. This revision marks one of the two most significant changes in the uniform CPA exam from when the AICPA first introduced it in 1917. Rapidly changing technology is the battlefield for cyber assaults; the revamped CPA exam includes a new section (Discipline), Information Systems and Controls (ISC). The AICPA reports that 70 to 90 percent of the ISC section of the CPA exam focuses on information systems, security, data management, confidentiality, and privacy. The frequency of the term "cyber" increased by 84.2 percent in the 2024 CPA Exam Blueprint compared to 2021.

"Today's accountants must understand the path data traveled and what security mechanisms are in place," said Robert Renner, senior vice president for Finance and Administration at FINRA, a self-regulatory organization that oversees member brokerage firms in the U.S. securities industry. Renner believes accountants trained in the past often underestimate the risk of data tampering. 

"Understanding the risks of data tampering from the beginning to the end of each transaction is core for today's accountants," he said. 

Cyberattacks cost organizations and businesses billions of dollars each year and frequently expose the confidential information of millions of customers and clients. During the last five years, reported cybercrimes resulted in . From 2021 to 2022 alone, the damages rose a whopping 49 percent. Complaints to the U.S. government's  (IC3) have also skyrocketed, increasing 128 percent. 

Cyber attackers are audacious. They are unafraid to attack even the largest Fortune 100 corporations, including JPMorgan Chase, Target, and AT&T. Even Google fell victim to an intrusion that revealed 52.5 million users' confidential information to cybercriminals. 

In 2021, University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) put itself at the vanguard in championing a master's degree in CyberAccounting. That decision acknowledged the powerful prize that accounting data represents for digital disruptors. 

Public accountants manage a massive volume of financial data and private client information, which is why accounting firms and accounting departments in organizations and businesses are targets for cybercriminals. UMGC is currently the only university in the United States offering a graduate degree in CyberAccounting, and we are about to graduate the first wave of students prepared to use emerging technologies to work collaboratively with cybersecurity professionals to mitigate financial threats. 

What sets UMGC's CyberAccounting program apart from traditional accounting degrees is its multi-disciplinary approach that enables students to gain knowledge in accounting, cybersecurity and technology. Courses in the UMGC program assess students' competencies to perform and interpret data analytics and implement information assurance practices as well as the cybersecurity risk management framework advanced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or comparable entities.

Through its 75-year history, UMGC has built a reputation helping generations of students earn degrees and move forward in their careers. We have accomplished this by recognizing industry trends and aligning our degree programs with market demands. Our M.S. in CyberAccounting degree was developed with this in mind – collaboratively by accounting, cybersecurity, and technology faculty who all recognize that informed clients need accountants who possess high-level technology and cybersecurity skills to protect their assets from cyber-intrusions. 

Dr. Sharon Levin, NASBA-CPT, MBA, CFE, CPA, is a graduate accounting professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus.