Cybersecurity Education in Accounting Curricula: A Teaching Note of Cybersecurity Risk Identification for Accounting Students

ABSTRACT Certified Public Accountants (CPA) exams require candidates to identify cybersecurity risks associated with protecting sensitive and critical information within information systems. This Teaching Note study uses a cybersecurity risk scenario to evaluate accounting students’ performance in cybersecurity risk assessment tasks. We ask a sample of 115 graduate accounting students to assess the cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and risks associated with the cybersecurity scenario. As a timely topic, the case exposes accounting students to cybersecurity risk considerations for a specific organization and allows them to investigate cybersecurity concepts (e.g., disgruntled employees) through the lens of internal controls and external auditing. By examining the cybersecurity case, students will gain an understanding of cybersecurity issues faced by organizations and critically think of ways to remediate or implement cybersecurity risk mitigation controls. This Teaching Note could be used in future individual and group exercises in accounting classes. Data Availability: Data are available on request from the authors. JEL Classifications: M41.