Advisors often ask me what more they can be doing security-wise—not just to keep compliant with regulations but also to make sure they aren’t putting both their offices’ and clients’ information at risk. After all, most of our advisors have great technical controls due to the Commonwealth Shield, and many blend in some security awareness training for a more comprehensive approach. The gaps appear to be covered.

In today’s connected world, cyber crime is becoming more common and more sophisticated. In fact, nearly half of all cyber attacks are being perpetrated against small businesses. Fortunately, as cyber crime has developed, so have cybersecurity measures to help you protect your business and safeguard your clients' financial information. One relatively new option that you may have heard about is cyber liability insurance. You may be wondering if this option is right for your business, so let’s take a closer look, starting with what cyber liability insurance covers.

Did you know that phishing (i.e., scam) e-mails account for about 91 percent of all cyber attacks? In other words, nearly every cybersecurity issue you could think of—from viruses, to ransomware, to full-blown data breaches—starts with users accidentally clicking malicious links in e-mails.

It’s likely that you and many of your clients have already started thinking about taxes. Unfortunately, another group is also getting ready for tax time: identity thieves.

As you know, there’s a significant increase in the sharing of sensitive information—both online and via mail—during tax season. This presents an ideal opportunity for identity thieves to steal your clients’ personal information and possibly their identities.

How can you help your clients avoid tax-related identity theft? You can start by understanding the problem and then educating yourself on possible solutions.

Imagine this: You open an e-mail on your work computer that seems to come from Google, prompting you to click a link to reset your password. But when you click, a mysterious .exe file downloads and launches. Slowly, all the files on your desktop turn into white paper icons, and the names of all your files turn into scrambled nonsense. What is happening here? Unfortunately, you’ve probably fallen victim to a ransomware attack.