Friday afternoon fraud: protecting your treasure trove of data

The ‘computer age’ has given us many breakthrough moments, revolutionising pretty much every single work environment you can think of and, propelling our own industry far beyond anything imaginable just 20 years ago. It’s fair to say that these developments will not be stopping anytime soon and, in areas like ‘robo advice’ for instance, we are probably witnessing the next stage of advice evolution, albeit one which I’m quite certain will still need the skills and experience of quality advisers in human form. That’s you, by the way.

Related topics:  Finance News
Julie Murray
8th December 2017
julie murray revolution
"There is always the potential that the fraudsters and hackers will get through resulting in at best, significant disruption, and at worst, major sums of money being taken"

For all its positives, the growth in ‘devices’, the internet, mobile phone use, computer systems, does have its downsides. For instance, the existence of spam emails must be right up there with some of the greatest annoyances of modern working (and living) and regardless of how much you think you’re doing to combat those messages, they still have a habit of sneaking into your inbox at the most inconvenient of times. I wouldn’t mind so much but I do not have fungal toe nail problems, tinnitus and/or a need to set up a survivalist camp in my back garden. Well, not yet anyway.

Given its annoyance factor, I’m sure (like me) you try to do all you can to stop those offending emails making it through your firewalls. It requires a constant approach because – especially in a larger business when you can be responsible for a considerable number of employees – all it needs is for one person to lose focus, click a link, and the damage can be done. Clearly, we all need a zero tolerance approach to such emails because despite how bizarre they might seem, they are often there to illicit personal/financial details or to deliver a virus into your systems.

For what it’s worth, I think most people are fully aware of the potential threat levels here however don’t follow the advice of someone I know who when confronted with spam emails, attempted to extricate herself from them by clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ and entering her details. Needless to say that the spam levels ramped up a hundred-fold after she engaged with them and that puts you on a whole other level of self-inflicted computer pain.

On a more serious note, but still linked to the issue of unwanted email and unwanted cyber-based attention, it was interesting to hear what the major worries are for our banks and building societies at present via the Bank of England’s bi-annual risk survey. Given everything that is taking place in a political context, specifically the negotiations to extricate ourselves from the EU, it was somewhat surprising to hear that for bank and building society executives the main worry is still the threat of cyber attacks.

Which you would, of course, expect to be a constant pressure and issue for all businesses but it’s interesting that specifically in our world, the cyber fraudsters continue to exercise the minds of the top executives more than other potential problems and obstacles. The increase in hacking and digital attacks does of course mean that our financial institutions have to be increasingly vigilant and put in far greater security measures in order to guard against them, however, as we’ve seen over the past 12-18 months there is always the potential that the fraudsters and hackers will get through resulting in at best, significant disruption, and at worst, major sums of money being taken from client accounts.

Now, the average advisory firm might consider themselves to be rather smaller fry when compared to the ‘riches’ on offer from banks and building societies but the threat is still there, especially when you are likely to have considerable personal and financial information on your systems from your clients. In that respect, much like our banking executives, it will certainly pay to have in place up-to-date security when it comes to protecting your systems, not forgetting that all staff members should be fully aware of the protection protocols they need to go through, in order to ensure you are not presenting a virtual open door to fraudsters.

Some of the biggest firms in the world have been ‘taken down’ by hackers intent on securing client data – the reputational damage that has been done to the likes of Uber, Equifax, Aviva is impossible to track, and that’s just those we know about this year, although these hacks in some cases have been historical. Therefore, the protection of that client data becomes ever more important as the data becomes ever more valuable, and pairing up the personal with the financial could result in a veritable treasure trove for the fraudsters.

The other major point that should be made is around client education. We’re all aware of ‘Friday afternoon fraud’ that can take place when a client is purchasing a home and the fraudster hacks emails resulting in the deposit money being sent to the fraudster rather than the solicitor. This can happen with alarming frequency and advisers don’t just have a job to do in protecting themselves, but also in terms of protecting their clients particularly if they are new to purchasing or may be vulnerable.

The fraudsters and the hackers are not going to stop, and therefore neither should we when it comes to ensuring we have the best protection possible. As mentioned, all it needs is one successful attempt and the consequences can be catastrophic.

More like this
Latest from Property Reporter
Latest from Protection Reporter
CLOSE
Subscribe
to our newsletter

Join a community of over 30,000 intermediaries and keep up-to-date with industry news and upcoming events via our newsletter.