As technology advances, so do the tools and schemes that cyber criminals use to steal from clients. Wire fraud, identity theft, and e-mail scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and continue to threaten data security for broker-dealers and financial advisors at a rapidly growing rate.

Last month, internal research conducted by Fidelity Investments® reported observing a five-fold increase in successful cyber fraud attempts on a year-to-year basis. This is a major concern for the entire financial industry. Therefore, if you have not yet performed a careful examination of whether your firm’s security policies and procedures are robust enough to withstand cyber attacks, you should strongly consider doing so now.

Over the past year, National Financial® has proactively pursued an awareness and education campaign on this topic to help accomplish two goals: communicating the increasing risk of cyber fraud, and empowering advisors with best practices to help protect their firm and their clients.

Please take this opportunity to click here and review the attached whitepaper from National Financial to help protect your firm and clients from cyber fraud. This guide includes valuable insights and actionable steps to consider and assist you with combating these threats.

If you have any questions, please contact Paul Edwards at pedwards@macg.com.