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Cybercrime is a prevalent and serious threat to publicly traded companies. Defending company information systems from cybercrime is one of the most important aspects of technology management. Cybercrime often not only results in stolen assets and lost business but also damages a company’s reputation, which in turn may affect the company’s stock market value. This is a serious concern to company managers, financial analysts, investors and creditors. This paper aims to examine the impact of cybercrime on stock prices of a sample of publicly traded companies.

Financial data were gathered on companies that were reported in news stories as victims of cybercrime. The market price of the company’s stock was recorded for several days before the news report and several days after. The percentage change in the stock price was compared to the change in the Dow Jones Industrial average to determine whether the stock price increased or decreased along with the rest of the market.

Stock prices were negatively affected in all time periods examined, significantly so in one period.

This paper describes cases concerning cybercrime, thereby bringing attention to the value of cybersecurity in protecting computers, identity and transactions. Cyber security is necessary to avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime. Specific security improvements and preventive measures are provided within the paper. Preventive measures are generally less costly than repairs after a cybercrime.

This is an original manuscript that adds to the literature regarding cybercrime and preventive measures.

Cyber terrorism poses a serious technology risk to businesses and the economies they operate in. Cyber terrorism is a digital attack on computers, networks or digital information systems, carried out to coerce people or governments to further the social or political objectives of the attacker. Cyber terrorism is costly in terms of impaired operations and damaged assets. Cyber terrorism harms a firm’s reputation, thereby negatively affecting a firm’s stock market valuation. This poses grave worries to company management, financial analysts, creditors and investors. This study aims to evaluate the effect of cyber terrorism on the market value of publicly traded firms.

Financial information was obtained on business firms that were featured in news stories as targets of cyber terrorism. The firm’s stock price was recorded for 1, 3 and 7 days before and after the news article. Percentage changes in the firm’s stock price were compared to percentage changes in the Dow Jones Index to ascertain whether the firm’s stock price went up or down matching the market overall.

Results indicate that stock prices are significantly negatively affected by news of cyber terrorist attacks on companies. In all three time periods after the cyber terrorist attack, there was a significant negative decline in the stock value relative to the Dow Jones Index. Thus, the market valuation of the firm is damaged. As a result, the shareholders and institutions are financially damaged. Furthermore, exposed system vulnerability may lead to loss of business from consumers who have reduced confidence in the firm’s operations.

This paper examines the risks posed by cyber terrorism, including its impact on individual business firms, which in turn affect entire national economic systems. This makes clear the high value of cybersecurity in safeguarding computer systems. Taking steps to avoid being a victim of cyber terrorism is an important aspect of cybersecurity. Preventative steps are normally far less costly than rebuilding an information system after a cyber terrorist attack.

This study is original in examining the effect of cyber terrorism on the stock value of a company.

Congruence of personal values to organizational (the profession) values affects job performance, job satisfaction and ethical behavior. The purpose of this paper is to answer two research questions: (1) what are the personal ethical values of today's leaders in the US accounting profession and (2) are these personal ethical values congruent with the profession's ethical code?

This study uses a survey approach to determine the personal values of US-certified public accounting leaders. The personal values of the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) leaders were measured using the Rokeach Value Survey instrument.

Findings show that for each highly prioritized personal value, there is one or more parallel with the profession's values, as represented by the US American Institute of CPAs ethics code.

This study was limited by the time period used. Future studies could include other time periods. This study could be used as a starting point for longitudinal studies to determine if personal values of professional accountants change over time.

This paper offers a fresh understanding of the relationship of accountants' personal values to professional values.

This paper provides insights into the person–organization (P–O) fit of US accountants within their profession.

This paper examines the P–O fit of accounting leaders, that is, the congruence of personal values and organizational values. The P–O fit contributes to job performance and job satisfaction.

Effective internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) should either prevent or enable correction of any material misstatement in a firm’s financial statements. Independent auditors, guided by professional standards, prepare an ICFR audit report, which provides a gauge by which the public can evaluate the reliability of a firm’s financial information. A firm manager may be tempted to misstate financial statements if he/she perceives a substantial reward for doing so. This study examines whether managers and firms are rewarded for misstating their financial statements in situations where there are incentives to do so, specifically, when an industry-leading peer is fraudulently inflating its reported earnings. The authors test to see if managers experience an increase in compensation as a result of misstatement. The authors also test to see if their firms benefit from misstating via changes to their cost of capital. Results suggest that neither managers nor their firms benefit from managing earnings by misstating financial statements. These findings are important, because a manager who ex ante understands that misstating will not lead to benefits personally or his/her firm is less likely to misstate in the first place.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.

This study examines the influence of firm management’s ethical “tone at the top” (tone) and the working relationship of an auditor with his/her supervisor (senior) on the auditor’s propensity to engage in an unethical, dysfunctional auditor behavior (DAB). Findings indicate that environmental factors influence the staff auditor’s decision of whether or not to follow a course of action suggested by the supervisor that is contrary to both the audit program and generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). Specifically, auditors are influenced by the tone that the partner sets for the firm and by the working relationship that the staff auditor has with the supervising senior auditor. The results of this research have ramifications for the auditing profession, as they identify specific factors outside of auditing standards and beyond an auditor’s moral reasoning capabilities that can influence the acceptance of unethical, dysfunctional behavior.