There has never been more of a focus on Cyber security as we have seen this last year, and I am sure we will hear a lot more in the future.
As the General Manager at Boutique Advisers, one of my priorities is to work with our providers to ensure our client’s data is safe and this will not change. Interestingly the statistics shows that most of the malware attempted data breaches come from emails and attachments which is now and will continue to be, an important part of all our lives.
Some of the things that Boutique Advisers have put in place to protect ourselves and our clients include,
- A strong internal culture of cyber compliance where we have in-house training on what to look for. We have external testing of our staff who are sent “false phishing” attacks to keep them on their toes and then training to improve their weaknesses.
- Our external IT consultants maintain the most up-to-date email phishing protection, and we monitor all traffic coming into and out of our network whether it be through email and devices and can quickly isolate or identify potential risks or breach.
- All our internal systems have Multi-Factor Authentication enabled,
- We have deployed a Password Manager to all staff and have complexity requirements for all our 3rd party applications (and MFA enabled).
- We ensure all our third-party providers have the same level of security and meet Global standards
- When dealing with our clients, any cash transfers requests or bank accounts change details received on email will be confirmed through a phone call from our office from one of our Client Managers
- Documents leaving our office via email with client data included are now sent through a secure link that only allows the email holder to open
- All our company devices are encrypted
- We have deployed a Security Operation Centre (SOC) to all our company devices which have Real-time Intrusion monitoring, Breach Detection and Threat Intelligence
- Clearly defined internal processes
- We leverage Microsoft 365, which has been designed with cybersecurity in mind and safeguards data and devices
These are just some of the approaches we take in reducing the risk of a cyber incident to our clients and team members. We are also aware this is a forever-moving industry and will continue to invest in the security for everyone involved with Boutique Advisers.
~ Belinda Good is the General Manager of Boutique Advisers