The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released a report detailing whether or not certain companies that had fallen victim to cyber-related frauds had violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by failing to have proper internal accounting controls. The nine companies investigated by the SEC fell prey to fraudulent “business email compromise” schemes, which are responsible for the highest estimated out-of-pocket losses of any cyber-related crimes in the last five years. The primary question for the SEC was whether or not the companies had failed to enact compliant internal accounting controls that may have prevented such fraud.
This alert details the SEC’s finding and advice for companies in an environment where cybersecurity is increasingly complicated and essential.