Integrity360 has partnered with Chartered Accountants Ireland to deliver a CISO-as-a-Service and managed detection and response model, an arrangement that matters to association and institute professionals as membership bodies holding large volumes of member data move cyber risk from IT teams to executive level governance.

Integrity360 is a global cyber security specialist, delivering strategic guidance through its CISO-as-a-Service offering and round the clock monitoring from a dedicated Security Operations Centre. Financial details are not publicly disclosed.

Chartered Accountants Ireland is the largest professional body on the island of Ireland, headquartered in Dublin and Belfast, with 40,000 members and 8,600 students.

Alan Murphy, head of IT at Chartered Accountants Ireland, said, "For Chartered Accountants Ireland, cybersecurity is more than an IT function. It is a critical component of protecting members, maintaining trust, and safeguarding the Institute's reputation and integrity."

Kias Carroll, strategic client partner at Integrity360, said, "The cyber security landscape is constantly evolving, posing challenges to organisations in Ireland and beyond."

The partnership reflects a governance shift in how professional bodies manage cyber risk rather than a routine outsourcing decision.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission recorded a 71 per cent rise in ePrivacy breach notifications to 731 in 2025, with over a third caused by phishing, and treats multi-factor authentication as a baseline security standard, according to Arthur Cox. The regulator also fined City of Dublin Education and Training Board 125,000 euro and the University of Limerick 98,000 euro for security failures and delayed breach notifications, according to Maples Group.

Institutes hold identity, contact and professional standing data on every member and student.

For the sector, a membership body adopting a dedicated CISO service signals that oversight of member data is now a board level accountability, closer to financial stewardship than to an IT function. For the sector's smaller institutes specifically, a managed service offers executive level security expertise that few could justify employing full time.

Whether other professional bodies adopt comparable managed security arrangements, rather than relying on internal IT teams, will indicate how far regulatory pressure is reshaping governance across the membership sector.

Source: Sync NI / Arthur Cox / Maples Group