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Capital One Hack: A Reminder to Practice Online Vigilance

 
Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Capital One recently announced a Seattle-based hacker accessed the company’s servers and obtained personal information on millions of credit card holders and applicants. The hack is yet another example that no one is immune to the threat of a security breach. It also serves as a reminder that Financial Advisors and Clients alike need to remain vigilant.

What Advisors & Their Clients Should Know
Follow the fundamental protocols in cybersecurity protection, especially when communicating back and forth through email.

At the minimum, Advisors should:

  • Send sensitive account documents, or other confidential client information contained in the body of the communication, via a secure email
  • Password protect all documents

Have clients that may have been compromised by the hack? This unfortunate incident is an opportunity to counsel these clients. Privacy experts suggest you should advise them to “log on to their account and change the password, then check for additional security measures that can be taken.” Helping clients shore up defenses can be a great way to show additional value from your firm.

Ultimately, there is no fail-safe. Clients are encouraged to press their Advisors about the security measures they have in place. For Advisors, it provides an opportunity to educate clients on information security and their firms best practices.

About Red Oak Compliance Solutions

Red Oak Compliance Solutions is the global advertising review software of choice in the financial services industry. It is a comprehensive suite of SEC 17A-4 compliant features that are 100% books and records compliant and provides clients with 35% faster approvals and 70% fewer touches or better. We also offer Smart Review(SM), which solves for the storage and maintenance of disclosures, helping firms reduce risk, decrease review times, and increase the speed of distribution of marketing materials. Smart Registration(SM) automates the licensing and registration management process to help reduce regulatory risk and time spent on manual processes. Overall, Red Oak allows firms to minimize risk, reduce costs, and increase compliance review process effectiveness and efficiencies.