NORWAY: Norway has digitized its accounts. Now communication around it must be secured

Defender

NORWAY, September 24, 2026 / EINPresswire.com / -- With 450,000 Norwegian businesses using external accountants, and privacy breaches still numbering in the thousands, Verji believes that secure customer communication must become an integral part of the accounting infrastructure – not an afterthought.

The Norwegian accounting industry is highly

digitalized and increasingly automated. Accounting systems, payroll platforms and financial work processes are being modernized at a rapid pace.

But one part of the infrastructure deserves more attention: the communication that handles sensitive information between accountants and their clients.

According to Accounting Norway, around 450,000 Norwegian small and medium-sized businesses use an external accountant. The industry had a turnover of NOK 24.6 billion in 2024, while around 29,000 people work in accounting, auditing and tax consulting in Norway.

This places accounting firms at the center of a continuous exchange of payroll information, employee data, identification information, financial documents, contracts and other confidential information.

At the same time, Norway continues to report thousands of privacy breaches. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority received 3,016 privacy breach notifications in 2025. Of these, 39 percent – ​​approximately 1,182 incidents – concerned personal data being sent to the wrong recipient. This was the most common category of reported breaches.

A further 414 notifications concerned missing or incorrect access controls, while 296 notifications involved deliberate attacks.

The figures apply to several industries, but show a broader challenge: Sensitive information does not always have to be stolen through an advanced cyberattack. Sometimes it simply ends up with the wrong person.

Security is also about how information moves
“The conversation about security is often about where data is stored. But we also need to ask how information moves from one person to another,” says Alf Kenneth Bråthen, CEO and co-founder of Verji.

“An accounting system may be well protected, but if sensitive documents, payroll information or personal data are moved through fragmented communication channels, a new layer of risk is introduced.”

The challenge is becoming increasingly complex as the threat landscape evolves. The National Security Authority (NSM) highlights in its Risk 2026 assessment that phishing and social engineering are becoming increasingly sophisticated, including methods that can bypass traditional multi-factor authentication.

For accounting firms, the challenge is therefore about more than protecting themselves from external threats. It is also about reducing daily operational risks such as incorrect recipients, uncontrolled access, fragmented communication histories and sensitive attachments circulating between multiple inboxes.

From GDPR tools to a new way to collaborate with clients
An accounting firm in Bergen, which serves nearly 40 clients, has already changed its approach.

What started as a GDPR-focused channel for sharing sensitive information has evolved into the firm’s primary communication environment for client dialogue.

Instead of relying on fragmented email exchanges, the firm uses dedicated digital spaces for each client. These provide controlled access, time-stamped communication and better overview for relevant employees.

The development raises a bigger question for Norway’s accounting industry:
If accounting has already become digital by default – shouldn’t secure client communication also become digital by default?

Privacy must be part of the daily way of working
“GDPR should not be treated as a document stored somewhere in a compliance folder,” says Bråthen.

“For industries that handle sensitive information every day, privacy must be reflected in how people actually work. The goal is to make the secure way of working the normal way of working, without employees or customers having to choose between usability and protection.”

With hundreds of thousands of Norwegian businesses relying on accountants, and more than a thousand reported incidents where personal data has ended up with the wrong recipient, the discussion is now moving beyond secure core systems.

The question is whether the communication around these systems is equally well protected.

About Verji Tech AS
Verji Tech AS is a Norwegian technology company specializing in encrypted communication solutions for regulated industries.

Our solutions enable secure, end-to-end encrypted messaging, file sharing, voice and video calls, BankID signing and intelligent workflows for businesses that require GDPR compliance and military-grade security.