Page 3 - Investment Advisor January/February 2022

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3 Steps to a Safer RIA

For RIAs, the biggest risk heading into Set hierarchies and access levels
2022 isn’t stock market volatility. A to data. Not everyone needs access
much greater risk lies in cybersecurity. to all files and systems. Classify
Of the nearly 6.3 billion web and separate data by sensitivity,
attacks globally in 2020, over and give employees access only to
736 million targeted the financial the areas they need.
services sector. While many of
these targeted large institutions, 3. Preserve business continuity.
RIAs are not immune to cyberse- Move systems to the cloud as
curity threats. RIAs hold valuable soon as possible. Cloud-based
information about their clients. If a data and software solutions offer
firm’s data is breached and shared, security benefits, but converting
it may end the relationship. to the cloud can be a time-
Here’s a checklist to help protect consuming project.
against cyber risk. For teams that have put off the
is locked up by ransomware, having transition, consider these two factors:
1. Minimize cybersecurity risk. systems and data backed up allows the First, with every passing month, the
Enable hard drive encryption. Most firm to wipe the compromised computer amount of data you have to convert
operating systems make hard drive clean without paying the ransom. In a only gets larger. Second, it’s best to
encryption easy, and this one small step matter of hours, the firm and employee convert everything when your team can
makes it much more difficult for a hacker could have information restored and be be calm and strategic, not when panic
to reach your data. Just be sure to turn up and running again. forces change.
on encryption on all devices. Avoid needlessly installing or con- Keep investing in remote-work capa-
Install antivirus software … and keep necting devices to the public internet bilities. If a firm stays up to date with
it updated. Over-the-counter antivirus at the office. Devices from refrigerators new cloud-based and remote technolo-
software protects against many of the to coffee machines can be connected gies and updates file sharing, chat and
computer viruses, trojans and ransom- to Wi-Fi. While this offers convenience, other capabilities, employees can migrate
ware. However, a small RIA firm might each device is a potential gateway to the to a remote work environment more
fall flat on systematic implementation rest of your office network. Be thought- quickly if needed.
and updates of this software. Establish ful about what you do connect and keep Avoid local software installations. By
policies for installing antivirus software up with system updates and patches for switching over to cloud-based applica-
before you provide devices to employees, every connected device. tions, as opposed to installing software
and have a process for routinely updating locally on a physical hard drive, employ-
the software across the organization. 2. Reduce risk from employees. ees no longer face the risk of losing
Don’t mix business and personal use Never share passwords. Ensuring no a favorite business app that is only
on an office computer. Train employees one uses someone else’s password is installed on select computers or within a
not to check personal email on the com- a big step toward good security. When select office.
pany laptop. This is how attackers get to employees have their own login creden- Use a cloud-based password manager.
many systems. Firms also should prevent tials, you can audit who, what, and when With passwords saved in the cloud, they
employees accessed different systems,
employees from downloading and install-
don’t die along with the physical device
Adobe Stock ing new apps. and system access can be cut off for they were stored in
departing employees without disrupting
—Manuel Balderas is chief technology
Back up data and systems … prefer-
other team members’ work.
ably in the cloud. If a work computer
officer of Income Lab.
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