Why Cybersecurity Professionals Should Use WISP Builder

If you are a cybersecurity professional, your job is to see potential InfoSec problems before they happen – but you can only do so much. You do important work every day to help your clients protect themselves, and as an expert you know that the stakes are high. You can recommend protocols and software all day long, but unless your clients in the tax and accounting world are serious about taking the level of precaution that is needed, it will all be for nothing.

What if you could have peace of mind knowing that your tax preparer and accountant clients are following through with the protocols that you’ve suggested? What if there was a way to uplevel your customer service and stand out from other cybersecurity professionals in your industry?

It isn’t just ‘best practice’ for tax accountants to have a Written Information Security Plan (WISP) in place —it’s actually required in order for them to do business and comply. Small and mid-sized firms are still getting accustomed to this new requirement, and they can feel overwhelmed when creating or maintaining a security plan, especially tax preparers dealing with limited time between busy seasons.

However, this common need for an IRS WISP is where a cybersecurity professional can step in to help clients create a solid cybersecurity plan that works using WISP Builder which in turn helps you, the cybersecurity professional, stand out in customer service and expertise.

Mistakes tax preparers make when creating a WISP —and how a cybersecurity professional can help.

Outdated policies: It’s not enough to simply create a WISP. Tax accountants also need to regularly maintain their WISP for it to be effective and considered compliant. A cybersecurity plan needs to be current with the latest trends in cybersecurity and stay up-to-date with changes happening inside the business.
Policies don’t match the practices: We’ve seen it one too many times, a tax accountant downloads the free IRS WISP PDF template, quickly makes a few changes to make it applicable to their business, and without giving it the thought that it deserves they have a WISP. But the problem is that most of these policies don’t in fact match the practices that are actually in practice. And a WISP won’t help protect your client, unless it’s something that they actually use on a regular basis.
Not assessing cyber risk in detail: As a professional in the cybersecurity industry, you understand threats like phishing, ransomware, or cyber attacks clearly and can help your client really look in detail at these risks. A risk assessment by a cybersecurity professional helps clients create a solid security plan that is specific to their business and risk.
No training or proof of understanding: A WISP is only as good as the people who put the plan into action. Tax accountants need to train all of their staff, including third party vendors, on their security plan in order for them to be compliant. This is especially important if the client is audited. And this is why WISP Builder provides resources and tools for your clients to put their security plan into place through training its employees on an ongoing basis.

Creating and maintaining an IRS-mandated WISP can be a daunting task to your tax preparer and accounting clients, but as a cybersecurity professional, you can help your client get it right the first time. Plus, your expertise and knowledge of specific risks helps your clients to thoroughly assess and create a security plan that goes above and beyond what they can do on their own.

Creating a WISP for your tax preparer and accounting clients: why it’s important

For tax pros, not having a WISP isn’t an option. Firms and solo tax preparers are required, under IRS guidelines and the FTC Safeguard Rule, to have a WISP that lays out how client information is protected. But since most tax preparers are tax experts, not cybersecurity experts, outside help like WISP Builder, and your expertise as a cybersecurity professional, is a huge benefit in making sure it’s done right.

A cybersecurity professional can help tax preparers:

Uncover gaps in security
Simplify risk assessment
Put safeguards such as access control, encryption, and multi-factor authentication into place

WISP Builder can help tax preparers:

Create a WISP in a format that is easy to access for all staff members
Record and store signatures for proof of compliance
Ease regular maintenance of the WISP
Assist in ongoing training with employees and third party vendors

The level of client service and support when cybersecurity experts use WISP Builder helps tax preparers and accountants be fully prepared. The partnership really is a win-win for everyone.

Maintaining and updating a WISP regularly — with ease.

Keeping a security plan current can be a big challenge without WISP Builder. As business grows, new technology emerges, and new trends pop up in the cybersecurity world a security plan needs to be updated to reflect these changes. The WISP Builder tool makes adding updates or changing protocols in a company’s WISP easy – including training staff on the changes and gathering the required signatures to stay in compliance.

A cybersecurity professional can help maintain and set up safety protocols for emerging threats, and you can use the WISP builder tool to help your tax accountant clients create, maintain, and easily store their cybersecurity plan.

WISP Builder and cybersecurity professionals make impactful partners

When cybersecurity experts partner with WISP Builder, you give your clients the best of both worlds—the only cost-effective tool of its kind that speeds things up making the WISP process simple, and expert insight that keeps them compliant and protected.

WISP Builder helps cybersecurity professionals as it costs the client almost nothing, and the client will appreciate that you have their long-term interests at heart. Using WISP Builder to help your client create an effective cybersecurity plan is a win-win for you both.