From AI Threats to IRS Expectations: Cybersecurity Changes You Need to Understand

Since November 2025, the threat landscape and the regulatory floor have both moved — and they've moved in the same direction. Attackers are using AI to produce phishing that defeats the red flags you trained your staff to spot. Voice cloning and deepfake video are now practical tools of social engineering. QR-code phishing has slipped past email filters that caught link-based attacks for years. And the legitimate remote-management tools your IT provider uses are being weaponized against firms like yours.

Meanwhile, regulators have closed the gap. The FTC's Safeguards Rule breach notification requirement is now actively enforced, with a 30-day clock and per-day civil penalties. The IRS has made an updated Written Information Security Plan a practical condition of 2026-filing-season standing. State attorneys general are not waiting on federal action.

This 100-minute update briefing gives tax and accounting firm owners a clear picture of what's actually changed, what it means for your firm's legal exposure, and what decisions belong on your desk — not your IT vendor's — over the next 90 days.

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Learning objectives

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

  •Describe the AI-enabled threats and attack techniques most relevant to tax and accounting firms in 2026

  •Identify the post-November 2025 regulatory changes that create direct legal exposure for firm principals under IRS and FTC frameworks

  •Distinguish owner-level cybersecurity decisions from operational IT decisions within their practice

  •Outline a 90-day action plan to close the highest-risk gaps in their firm's cybersecurity posture

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NASBA Field of Study: Information Technology

IRS CE Topic: Federal Tax

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*Self-Study recording not available for NASBA CPE credit.

IRS Program #: 7Q3WU-T-

CTEC Course #: 6248-CE-