As work processes adjust in response to COVID-19, FINRA issued a Cybersecurity Alert in late March urging member firms and their associated persons to take “appropriate measures to address increased vulnerability to cybersecurity attacks and to protect customer and firm data on firm and home networks, as well as devices.”
This alert provided firms with measures they may use to help strengthen their cybersecurity controls in areas where risks may increase in the current “work from home” environment.
Workplace by OS33, an Ambassador Sponsor of the Financial Services Institute (FSI), responded to the Cybersecurity Alert this week by announcing it is providing all financial advisors with free use of Workplace’s device check and compliance software.
Workplace’s software helps firms and advisors to meet FINRA’s direction for remote device security by checking the compliance status of any computer being utilized to access private client data and assisting the advisor to remediate non-compliance issues.
“I am worried: A cybersecurity incident or breach at this juncture stands to impact our industry negatively, at the worst time possible for Americans who need the counsel of their financial advisors more than ever in our nation’s history,” says Morley Ivers, president of Workplace by OS33. “We stand behind FINRA’s guidance and Workplace has the technology to address this threat. Our organization’s ethics and values coupled with a long-term commitment to our industry compels us to respond.”
That response was making Workplace’s device check and compliance software available to every advisor in the industry, for free—no gimmicks, no strings attached; and a timeframe that extends for the duration of this pandemic, Ivers says.
“Our team is using our expertise and our software to bolster the safety of our industry in this time of need—period,” Ivers says.
For nearly two decades, Workplace has been deploying its remote working and security platform for financial advisors.
FSI has informed its national membership of Workplace’s offering of free access to Workplace’s device check and compliance software for all financial advisors who are working remote during the pandemic.
“Ensuring that Main Street Americans can continue to rely upon their advisors and the protection of their data during this unprecedented time of market uncertainty is critical. It is encouraging to see solution providers get creative in how they can support and serve advisors and clients,” says FSI President & CEO Dale Brown.
Advisors may now download and access Workplace’s device check and compliance software for free by visiting: www.os33.com/heretohelp.
Increased risk of cyber attacks
The risk of cyber events may be increased due to use of remote offices or telework arrangements, heightened anxiety among associated persons and confusion about the virus, FINRA stated in its Cybersecurity Alert. “While member firms are understandably focused on business resiliency and the health and safety of individuals, it is important that member firms remain vigilant in their surveillance against cyber threats and take steps to reduce the risk of cyber events.”
Like the reporting on the spread of the coronavirus, it may take weeks—even months—before we learn the true impact of how millions of remote workers worldwide will have compromised business networks, says cybersecurity expert Milan Baria, co-author of Amazon best-seller “You Are The #1 Target: Why Your Business Is Likely To Be The Victim of Cybercrime Now More Than Ever Before…And What You Can Do To Stop It.”
“I’m especially concerned for small businesses because they don’t have the staff of IT experts that large corporations can draw on. It only takes one remote worker to click on a phishing email that offers free movies to entertain your children while they are homebound, and the intruders are in your network,” Baria says.
While it’s difficult to specify how many people are working remotely under the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, Baria and others think it will more than double the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019 report that more than 26 million people worked remotely at least some of the time.
That more than doubles the hackers’ opportunities to penetrate systems, Baria says.
“These hackers send out thousands of emails instantly. If they can get two clicks among remote VPN users, they’re in two companies. They’re after dollars, data and personally identifiable information,” says Baria.
Industry analysts say cyber schemes will cost business about $6 trillion by 2021, with the price of ransomware attacks increasing 74% over 2019, to $11.5 billion.
Baria notes that small businesses, without an army of IT experts, are more vulnerable.
“I’m certain hackers are penetrating these businesses; we just haven’t heard about it yet,” says Baria, CEO of Blueclone Networks, a managed IT services and cyber security company.
Often, companies don’t know for weeks that their systems have been compromised, and vague federal regulatory reporting requirements for most industries allow others to sidestep any disclosure timetable.
“Small business is going to have a difficult enough time resuming operations when the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted,” Baria says. “Continuing to update operating systems, software, firmware and hardware and security protocols now will give companies a clean, highly secure position for re-launching operations.”
SEE ALSO:
- 401k Fraud: A Chilling Account of How Easy It Is
- Is Your Cybersecurity Plan Ready for Coronavirus?
- FINRA’s March 2020 Cybersecurity Alert
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
