The Bottom Line

The bottom line is financial institutions cannot afford to ignore cybersecurity any longer. With today’s societal challenges, work is now being done on the move as we talked about for the last month with Identity Management. Employees are handling contracts and deals via their phones, connected to whatever Wi-Fi is around all while dealing with sensitive data.  

There is a common misconception among private wealth advisors as to the security services provided by big brokers they use to manage their client’s assets. Large entity broker dealers who serve as a portal to independent registered investment advisors do not provide cybersecurity beyond the platform they provide services from. Companies such as Edward Jones, Raymond James, Ameriprise, etc., provide data security and protection for the data that is logged into their own portal, however, they do not provide any type of security for the employee or the independent private wealth advisor’s device that was used to log into the portal.  

If any employee device becomes compromised, said compromiser will be able to access the employee credentials and gain access to any information that the employee could access. These large corporations typically encourage independent registered investment advisors to practice strong security methods such as downloading anti-virus software, not using public networks, using multiple passwords, and much more, because they are aware of the risks however push the responsibility off. Fact of the matter is, if your company is a subsidiary to or uses another companies’ portal to log client information, you may not be as protected as you think.  

 We feel that there are three major challenges faced by every financial institution. First, and foremost, they are one of the biggest targets for cybercriminals because that is where access to financial data is. Second, with an exponential shift to a digital environment, compliance regulations have become a nightmare as the compliance frameworks have not matured as quickly as the need for data access. Third, the education and knowledge of cybersecurity is unknown to most in the private wealth sector, let alone the greater finance market.  

Information stored locally on a computer, laptop, phone, or tablet needs to be secure. If not, private client information is an easy target for devices to be targeted for their senstive client data. Securing every device that has access to an organizations data should be a top priority for any company no matter what market they serve as a data breach is detrimental to any company financially. In most cases, such as GDPR, legal fines and fees that come with client prosecution and facing potential loss of company reputation which leads to tarnishing client relationships.  

With proper Endpoint Security, all three challenges mention above become obsolete. Cyber criminals are always going to attack financial institutions. If there is money involved, someone is going to try and take it but when devices are secured with endpoint protection, the door to that sensitive data becomes locked to any intruders. Even if a hacker does gain access, Endpoint Security solutions such as ones that Steel Patriot Partners uses for our clients, provides real-time detection and response to threats allowing companies to be proactive rather than reactive to a breach. Compliance regulations such as FINRA & NIST are met by basic endpoint protection and reduce the stress of following strict guidelines without adding extra hassle. Finally, with strong endpoint security, your employees don’t need to be cybersecurity experts and protection of their devices allows employers to focus on serving their clients rather than worring about compliance.  

Here, at Steel Patriot Partners, we can assist you with your cyber needs. Please reach out to us if you ever have any question or concerns about your company’s cybersecurity. We would be more than happy to work through this process with you and create a safe and reliable work environment. You can reach us at, [email protected] or give us a call at 855.578.7272!