Cyber Security – a Critical Issue for All Financial Institutions

We’ve been reading some interesting articles lately about cyber security and protecting information.  Not only are our businesses and organizations susceptible to attack but, of course, we each have a stake in protecting our own personal information as well.

The following articles might help you and your Financial Institution clients start or continue a conversation on cyber protection; please feel free to share the links with your clients.

• Keeping Client Data Safe – While the audience is financial planners, the advice is universal, especially as more and more FI’s have devices “somewhere out there” – and we know passwords are inadequate. 
  • How to keep client data safe from online attackers

• Reusing Passwords – Starwood Hotels was recently hacked and the only accounts that were identified in the hack were those where re-use occurred; same usernames and password combinations, and that can be found here:
  • Password reuse fuels Starwood fraud spike  

• Five Simple Steps to Stay Protected – Sophos published the following in October noting the simplest ways “small” businesses can stay protected. Be sure to watch the short video on creating passwords, it is good advice for all of us. 
  • Security by the numbers

• The World Stage – The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland provided some very interesting thoughts, conversation and analysis around cyber-attacks and security. Here are two articles providing some insight:
  • Davos executives express worries
  • Davos experts warn world leaders about cyber attacks

Berkley FinSecure can help mitigate losses if a Financial Institution client suffers a loss as a result of a cyber-security breach.  Contact your regional executive listed below for more information.