comment PQ
CONTENTS
News 06CIMA hacked Institute moves to make website more secure 08The pay gap PwC admits that BAME staff are lagging behind 10ACCA exams Too much to read in time allotted, say PQs 11Tesco scandal ‘Accountants quit firm over ethical issues’ Features, etc 04Mind your Ps&Qs Studying at your own pace; two more kiss CIMA goodbye; and presentations made simple – thanks to PQ! 12Ethics ACCA and CIPFA put increased emphasis on ethics 14Profile Shagufa Jamaldeen has a story to tell – she took a master’s degree in six months 15ACCA exams Changes are afoot at the Professional level 16PQ Awards It’s time to get your nominations to us – do it now! 19Tax qualification Your guide to the revised CTA exam; and meet our cover star, The Tick 20CIMA spotlight Prepare for the exams and lose the stress 22Inheritance tax Dealing with questions on IHT; and sign up today for our great conference 24Cost of capital Understanding the risk adjusted cost of capital 25Interview Qlik CFO Tim MacCarrick on the firm’s approach to visual analytics
Keeping your data safe
November 2017 27Let’s get technical IFRS 15 –
the new rules explained 29Careers #1 Top tips on how to hit the ground running when you start a new job 30Careers #2 Where are the recruitment agencies now? 32Careers #3 Life at a ‘holistic’ accountants; the PQ book review; and our social media round-up 34Fun stuff – and our giveaways The columnists Robert Bruce Beware acronyms – they just might fool you 6 Prem Sikka The reasons why the FRC is headed for extinction 8 Zoe Robinson Procrastination really is the thief of time 10 Subscribe to PQ magazine It’s FREE – see page 31 or go to www.pqmagazine.com ABC July 2015 – June 2016
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We have two data breach stories in this issue. First, there was the story of the cyber security expert who decided to take a look at CIMA Connect and found a big hole (see page 6). Deloitte has also confirmed that a hacker got into its email system recently (page 8). Hardly a day goes by without another story hitting the headlines. This month we had Yahoo reveal that all of its three billion accounts were affected by the 2013 hacking. That triples its earlier estimate of the largest breach in history. The boss of Equifax, Richard Smith, also stood down in the wake of a hacking attack that compromised the personal information of 143 million Americans and as many as 400,000 Brits. And don’t forget Apple suffered one of the biggest leaks in its history, too, as details of new iPhones and other devices were put out before the official launch. Then there was the ‘ransomware’ attack on dozens of NHS trusts. It would seem that, as we have always believed, your data isn’t safe anywhere. Experts at the National Cyber Security Centre said they have clocked 1,131 incidents since it started work last October. They have called 590 of these ‘significant’, with 30 so serious they merited a crossgovernment response. Key national institutions are under siege, as are both large and small businesses. But there is another problem. Organisations like Facebook collect information from users so that they call sell them on to advertisers. The Spanish data protection agency, the AEPD, found Facebook had recently collected details on gender, religious beliefs, personal tastes and browsing history from its millions of users without informing them how such information would be used. Facebook was fined £1.1m, but said it planned to appeal the decision. Facebook also uses cookies to collect data from people who do not have an account on the social network. Perhaps we just have to accept that our data isn’t our own and start from that premise! Graham Hambly, PQ magazine editor – graham@pqaccountant.com
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