We do love it when someone refers a family member or friend to us. Sometimes the question is, “How can we introduce them to you?” Well, there are multiple ways but a very easy way is to simply forward them a link to this webpage.
Here are this week’s items:
Portfolio Update: Murs and I have recorded our portfolio update for July 5, 2022
How do you keep your finances safe in a world where cybersecurity has become a household term? In a world where we’re performing most of our tasks online, it is important to be aware of the innovation of cyber fraud and hacking and how to stay safe.
This Weeks Blog –Why is Internet Safety Important?–
Are you trying to secure your retirement? If so, a lot of clients we have are majorly concerned about cybersecurity. In an instant, a hacker can get into your bank account, transfer your savings over to their own accounts and leave you to pick up the pieces.
Cyber security is of the utmost importance. At our firm, we work diligently to protect against cyber-attacks and prevent our client’s data from being stolen in the process. We recently had the pleasure of speaking to a cyber security professional named Jamie Ramirez, who walked us through the steps of reducing the risk of threats.
While he works primarily with businesses, his points are helpful for everyday folks. After all, everyone is using the Internet more now than even three years ago.
If you’re in the midst of retirement planning and trying to secure your retirement, the last thing you want is for someone to hack into your financial accounts or steal your identity. Diligence is critical here, and we’re excited to bring this interview to you today.
Securing Transactions to Secure Your Retirement
Jamie, the owner of Preventor, is a cyber security professional who created the next generation in ID verification and financial crime risk management. Lending his expertise to us, he offers many recommendations throughout our talk.
A Rise in Individual Threats and Risks
The pandemic has led many people to work from home and do more online than in the past. For example, remote workers don’t have the same level of security as they did in the workplace, which employers have more control over.
Jamie states that the pandemic has accelerated threats and a major demand in AI and security services.
The Internet opens opportunities for identity theft and cybersecurity risks.
Cloud computing companies, such as Google Cloud and Azure, have high-end security measures that help protect businesses and their customers. So from an individual standpoint, if you use a service that runs on these platforms, you can have some level of confidence that your data will be secure.
However, when you use a no-name service or something similar, you just don’t know who is on the other end looking to steal your data. As an individual, it’s crucial to ask the service providers you use about their:
Security measures
Internal security protocols
For example, at our firm, we have a strict rule never to follow a client’s instructions that are sent over email because it’s just too easy to fake an email or gain access to an account and request money transfers.
We perform security and identity checks to ensure the client truly made the request before proceeding.
How to Protect Clients from a Business Standpoint
In our business, it’s possible to perform a phone call verification because we don’t handle thousands of client calls per day. But unfortunately, large companies that have thousands of transactions per day cannot call to verify every person’s identity.
Even when calling a person to verify their information and requests, there’s still a risk that it’s someone close to the person who can answer all of these questions.
Additional methods to authenticate a person’s identity include:
Face recognition
Voice recognition
Requesting specific documents
Etc.
From a business standpoint, it can be complex to automate these processes. Technology can only automate some of these steps to protect a business while reducing customer abandonment. Many customers don’t like to go through extra security measures, so it’s crucial to find effective solutions that don’t cause customers to leave your business.
How Consumers Can Protect Themselves
Consumers must take it upon themselves to protect their identities and ensure that their information hasn’t been exposed. First and foremost, it’s essential to look through account statements and balances to ensure there are no unwanted charges.
Additionally, credit reports can help you find accounts in your name that you may not have opened.
Hackers have become very creative.
For example, you can see this creativity in the way that certain transactions are made or even hidden. Hackers will try and make transactions look normal to the consumer, and when they realize the issue, it’s too late.
Banks may recognize the issue and send money back to the user – when and if the money can be recuperated.
What Preventor Does
Preventor is a risk and identity management platform. The company started by working with financial institutions, but now it has expanded to more industries. Preventor is based in Miami, Florida but works with financial solutions globally.
Wrapping Up
Staying as vigilant as possible as we adopt more Internet solutions requires you to take advantage of the technology that’s available. Don’t reuse your passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and be willing to take advantage of more complex security measures, such as facial or voice recognition.
