Xero Accounting Data Compromised

UPDATE: In an email to PYMNTS, Xero Vice President of Global Communications Alice Chan said that Xero has not experienced a security breach, and clarified that any security concerns are the result of individual customers in Australia having been targeted by phishing scams.

“We are aware of a small number of Xero customers in Australia falling victim to phishing/malware scams,” Chan said, “and someone gained unauthorized access to their account login details and passwords.”

Security concerns within the Xero cloud-based accounting platforms are hitting some business users of the service. Reports Friday (Oct. 23) in Graham Cluley spotlighted the security worries, which was announced by Xero in an email to users, which stems from Xero users falling victim to cyber scams, leading to their Xero account information to be compromised.

“As we mentioned in our recent email, we have seen an increase in phishing scams, including some that have impersonated Xero’s branding,” the company stated. “Our monitoring has shown that a small number of our customers have had their Xero accounts compromised.”

[bctt tweet=”‘A small number of our customers have had their Xero accounts compromised'”]

The company is now advising its clients to scan their computers for malware and change their passwords.

“Please do this on all computers you use to access Xero,” the company said.

According to reports, Xero did not place a notice of the issue on its official blog or homepage. While the company did not release specific numbers as to how many business customers may have had their information or account data compromised, the firm said that if a business was one of the victims, Xero would notify them immediately.

Xero’s use of the cloud means businesses can often streamline their processes, but small businesses have been particularly weary of implementing the technology, for accounting tools or otherwise.

According to Symantec’s most recent Internet Security Threat Report, released earlier this year, SMEs are especially high-risk when it comes to cyber attacks. About 60 percent of cyber attacks that occurred last year landed within SMEs, researchers found. While the cloud can make it easier for criminals to access sensitive data, experts say companies should safeguard their systems before an attack occurs to protect their financial information.

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