AI gold rush leaves accountancy firms exposed to costly cyberattacksPicture by Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesAccountancy firms are pouring millions of pounds into AI, but the industry forgot to modernise security systems and is leaving itself exposed to costly cyberattacks. The data revealed nearly half of the businesses surveyed said AI was directly exploited in their most recent security incident, compared with seven per cent of non-AI-first organisations. Marshall Erwin, chief information security officer at Fastly, said: “Cyber criminals target accounting firms for the privileged access to sensitive financial information they hold.” Even approved AI tools created vulnerabilities because they frequently received extensive automated permissions. Firms need an understanding of where AI is being used, what data and systems it can access, and who is responsible when something goes wrong.”