Powerful Insights

Cybersecurity continues to be a critical area of concern for organizations and virtually any leader you ask – board members, CIOs, CFOs, and many more. But as elevated as those risks are today, the real threat may be just around the corner, particularly concerning cryptocurrency. Crypto has been viewed as highly secure, but the rapid emergence of quantum computing, which is set to deliver practical applications and capabilities within just a few years, is changing the game.

Protiviti recently conducted a webinar on this topic titled “Preparing for the Quantum Threat to Cryptography and Cryptocurrency.” The lead expert and host of this webinar was Protiviti Associate Director Konstantinos Karagiannis, who is head of Quantum Computing Services at Protiviti and also hosts his own podcast called “The Post-Quantum World,” available wherever you get your podcast content. Konstantinos has been helping companies with quantum computing threats and opportunities since 2012.

In this podcast, we address some of the many questions that came in during the webinar that Konstantinos was unable to get to during the webinar itself.

Protiviti’s webinar, “Preparing for the Quantum Threat to Cryptography and Cryptocurrency,” is available on demand at www.protiviti.com/webinars.

Subscribe to The Post-Quantum World, hosted by Konstantinos, available on all major podcast platforms.

Follow Konstantinos on Twitter and Instagram: @KonstantHacker and follow Protiviti Technology on LinkedIn and Twitter: @ProtivitiTech.

Visit Protiviti at www.protiviti.com/postquantum to learn more about how Protiviti is helping organizations get post-quantum ready.

For a full transcript of this podcast, contact Kevin Donahue: [email protected].

It has been an active and often wild ride in the IPO market over the past year. After a slow period during the heart of the initial COVID-19 crisis, market activity has reignited at a blistering pace, driven by optimism in the global economy and the emergence of special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, among other factors.

There is ample excitement right now about IPOs, but there also are areas to be mindful of and manage effectively in order to achieve a successful public offering. Patience and proper preparation are a must.

In this podcast, Protiviti Managing Directors Susan Alexander, Brad Rachmiel, Charlie Soranno and Nick Spinks, leaders in Protiviti’s Public Company Transformation group, discuss the overall state of the market and some of the key issues and concerns for organizations to address effectively during the overall IPO process.

For more information, visit the Public Company Transformation page on the Protiviti website at www.protiviti.com/PCT. A wealth of information and insights are available, including the fourth edition of Protiviti’s highly regarded Guide to Public Company Transformation: Frequently Asked Questions.

Contact Susan at [email protected].
Contact Brad at [email protected].
Contact Charlie at [email protected].
Contact Nick at [email protected].

Transcriptions of our Powerful Insights podcasts are available upon request from [email protected]

Like organizations in virtually every industry today, utilities are addressing a number of critical challenges and trends in the market, from infrastructure demands, to calls to improve the customer experience, to talent demands, and much more.

How will the future for utilities evolve? In this informative podcast, Peter Tumminello and Claire Gotham offer a number of interesting insights into these issues. Pete is recently retired group president of commercial businesses for Southern Company Gas, and currently serves as a board member for a midstream natural gas company. Claire is a managing director for Protiviti and a leader in the firm’s Utilities Industry practice.

For more information and insights from Protiviti, visit www.protiviti.com/US-en/energy.

Contact Claire at [email protected].

The current and future state of suspicious activity monitoring and reporting is being transformed by technology and the use of data, analytics and robotics.

In this episode, Mark Highton – Managing Director leading Protiviti’s Financial Crimes Consulting practice, interviews Vishal Ranjane – Head of Global AML Strategies, Solutions and Transformation at TD Bank, and Seth Twery – VP of Client Engagement at Tookitaki. Mark, Vishal and Seth consider the journey to the “Holy Grail” and what and how the current financial crime operating models will change to meet this goal.

Listen to this podcast to learn about the steps organizations must take to transform their transaction monitoring processes, the consequences of not transforming and what is needed for the future to bring us closer to “the holy grail.”

To learn more about Protiviti’s Risk Transformation services, visit us at www.protiviti.com/US-en/risk-compliance/risk-transformation.

Transcriptions of Powerful Insights are available upon request from [email protected].

The range of challenges and uncertainty triggered by the pandemic continue to rise, but one key element has elevated as imminent - the future work environment.

Do you know where all your employees are working? Which policy exceptions and accommodations do you need to amend or revise once your firm adopts a new, more permanent operating model? Are your systems able to provide proper oversight?

This podcast features an informative discussion with Scott Anderson, Chief Compliance Officer with Société Générale, and Managing Directors Sean Gleason and Doug Wilbert from Protiviti. As part of their conversation, they assess the impact of the distributed work environment on the effectiveness of traditional compliance and oversight tools.

A global pandemic caused by a rare airborne virus that continues to affect organizations in different ways around the world. A growing number of stakeholders in organizations with whom internal audit needs to partner. Business models and a risk landscape with seemingly shorter cycle times than in years past.

These challenges are among many facing Chief Audit executives and their teams. They underscore the need to adopt next-generation internal audit practices to be more agile and technology-enabled, to have the required skill sets in alignment with these practices, and to achieve a real-time level of engagement with risk management, data and controls. But for most, the next-generation audit journey is just beginning. In fact, the results from Protiviti’s 2021 Next-Generation Internal Audit Survey reveal relatively low maturity levels in different areas of governance, methodology and enabling technology.

The results of this survey are detailed in Protiviti’s report, The Next Generation Internal Audit Journey Needs To Begin Now. This is available at Protiviti.com/IASurvey.

In this podcast, Protiviti’s Liz Berger and Andrew Struthers-Kennedy share their insights and notable takeaways from the study. Liz is a director with Protiviti’s Internal Audit and Financial Advisory practice, while Andrew is a managing director and global leader for Protiviti’s IT Audit practice.

Contact Liz at [email protected].

Contact Andrew at [email protected].

For more information, visit www.protiviti.com/IASurvey.

The most significant technology risks for 2021 reflect the new world defined by COVID-19 and its impact on business conditions and priorities. What is increasingly apparent is that more digitally mature organizations have a clear advantage.

ISACA and Protiviti recently conducted a global survey of more than 7,400 IT audit and risk leaders to obtain their perspectives on the top technology risks their organizations are facing. The results are enlightening, with cybersecurity and privacy issues, regulatory compliance, data, disaster recovery, and other pandemic-driven concerns ranking among the top technology risks for organizations globally.

In this episode, Robin Lyons and Paul Phillips from ISACA and Andrew Struthers-Kennedy from Protiviti discuss some of the notable findings and takeaways from this study. Robin is IT Audit Professional Practices Lead with ISACA. Paul is IT Risk Professional Practices Lead at ISACA. Andrew is a managing director and global leader for Protiviti’s IT Audit practice.

Contact Robin at [email protected].

Contact Paul at [email protected].

Contact Andrew at [email protected].

For more information, visit www.protiviti.com/ITAuditSurvey.

It's been more than a year since a historic global pandemic changed the way companies operate in the near term, and very likely for the long term future. We can see the impact on numerous fronts, certainly including the time, costs and efforts organizations are investing in their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance activities. And for certain companies the use of technology and automation rose to the forefront over this past year as a key advantage.

Protiviti recently published the results of its latest Sarbanes-Oxley compliance survey. We recently had the opportunity to chat with two Protiviti experts on the expansive and often challenging areas related to SOX compliance. Kristen Kelly is a director with Protiviti’s Internal Audit and Financial Advisory practice. Angelo Poulikakos is a managing director with Protiviti’s IT Audit practice.

Over the course of our chat, Angelo and Kristen talk about SOX compliance during the pandemic; growth in technology and automation and, for many companies, the best place to get started; and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance hours that are required, which continue their long term trend to rise on an annual basis.

Protiviti’s report, SOX Compliance and the Promise of Technology and Automation, is available at Protiviti.com/SOXSurvey.

Contact Kristen Kelly at [email protected].

Contact Angelo Poulikakos at [email protected].

Australia's mandatory data breach notification scheme has now been in place for a few years, and there are certain takeaways we have seen on notifications.
Marc Coleman from Protiviti Australia and Baker McKenzie’s Anne Petterd discuss data breaches in the context of what has been learnt from the mandatory data breach notification scheme, including the impact on notifications, what data breach practices have organisations implemented, and how have they assessed and applied the serious harm test.
This is episode 2 of a 3-part series on privacy. Protiviti Australia teamed up with law firm Baker McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.com/en) for Privacy Awareness Week, an initiative of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au/), which highlights the importance of protecting personal information and helps organisations navigate the privacy landscape. Find our other resources and insights here: www.protiviti.com/AU-en/insights/privacy-awareness-week-2021.
Marc Coleman is a Manager in Protiviti Australia’s Cyber Security & Privacy team with key experience in privacy, information security, and regulatory change.
Anne Petterd is a Partner in the Technology, Communications & Commercial team at Baker McKenzie. Her expertise is in online, telecommunications, IT businesses, defence, and government procurement.

What are the main privacy risks and issues that organisations need to be across today?
That is the question tackled in this podcast. Along with this, Protiviti Australia’s Hanneke Catts and Toby Patten of Baker McKenzie discuss how these privacy risks are being approached, and look at how organisations are implementing a privacy by design approach to ensure their privacy policies are fit for purpose.
This is episode 1 of a 3-part series on privacy. Protiviti Australia teamed up with law firm Baker McKenzie (www.bakermckenzie.com/en) for Privacy Awareness Week, an initiative of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au/), which highlights the importance of protecting personal information and helps organisations navigate the privacy landscape. Find our other resources and insights here: www.protiviti.com/AU-en/insights/privacy-awareness-week-2021.
Hanneke Catts is a Director in Protiviti Australia's Sydney office. Her professional experience is focused on IT consulting and IT audit. This includes IT project management and assurance, IT controls assurance, IT general control reviews, and IT security compliance.

Toby Patten is a Baker McKenzie Partner, who specialises in transactional and advisory information technology, healthcare, and intellectual property matters.