encryption Archives

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 24

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, Microsoft discloses a zero-day vulnerability that affects nearly all Windows operating systems. See what you need to do right now to protect your systems from attack. inStream inks a partnership with BAM Advisor Services. Learn why this could be a big deal for the startup wealth management software provider. And, cyber attacks scare even the most security-conscious advisors. Find out about a new assessment service that can help defend your business from online attacks.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by ITEGRIA, providers of complete outsourced technology support, security, infrastructure and IT solutions exclusively for RIAs.

In their new book titled Red Flags, you’ll learn how to protect your firm from cyber-attacks, disasters, and IT compliance risks. Learn more about the Red Flags book by visiting fppad.com/itegria.

Before I get to the links to this week’s top stories, first answer this live poll:

Now on to this week’s top stories:

What you need to know about new zero day that hits most supported Windows versions from PCWorld.com, and

(Install) Microsoft security advisory: Vulnerability in Microsoft OLE could allow remote code execution: October 21, 2014 from Microsoft TechNet

[This week’s top story involves the hot topic of cybersecurity, as Microsoft disclosed a scary vulnerability in nearly every version of Windows on the market. So if you’re watching on a Windows machine, you need to pay attention. Mac users, you can go top off your Halloween candy.

Ok, so the vulnerability allows attackers to exploit Microsoft’s Object Linking and Embedding technology, better known as OLE, by sending you a Microsoft Office file with malicious code inside. If you open document, the attacker can gain access to your account’s rights and permissions and can remotely execute code on your computer. The potential for damage isn’t that great if your account has limited permissions, but if your account has administrative rights, then really bad things can happen. Pretty scary, huh? (scream)

So here’s what you need to do right now: first, remind everyone in your business once again never to open suspicious Microsoft Office documents, especially PowerPoint files, that are attached to dubious emails.

Then, to patch this vulnerability, head over to fppad.com/145 to find the link to Microsoft’s Security Advisory that contains the instructions on how to get the update. Now would also be a good time to make sure you’re current on all of your Windows updates.] Microsoft issued a security advisory this week with details of a zero day vulnerability that affects every supported version of the Windows operating system with the exception of Windows Server 2003.

Buckingham Asset Management & BAM Advisor Services announces selection of inStream wealth management technology platform from Yahoo Finance

[Ok Mac users, you can come back now, because next up is a story from Buckingham Asset Management and BAM Advisor Services, as the joint companies announced the selection of inStream as its wealth management platform for their 370 affiliated advisors.

You have to go way back my episodes in January for news on inStream, when the company announced that it would switch from a free plan to one that costs roughly $2,400 a year to use. But under the new strategic partnership, advisors who are part of the BAM Alliance will have full access to the inStream platform for no additional cost.

This is a big deal for inStream, as Buckingham Asset Management and BAM Advisor Services collectively manage or administer over $23 billion in assets, making them one of the largest RIAs in the country. So you might want to raise inStream a little bit higher on your radar, as I expect you will be hearing more from the company regarding new partnerships and financial planning functionality.] Buckingham Asset Management/BAM Advisor Services, one of the country’s largest independent wealth management enterprises, has chosen the inStream planning-centric wealth management software platform to serve the more than 370 advisors representing the more than 140 client firms in its network.

Investment Technology Partners Begins Offering Cybersecurity Assessments to Independent RIAs from PRWeb

[And finally, cybersecurity raises its ugly head once again to finish this week’s episode, but this time the news comes from Investment Technology Partners, a cloud IT provider to RIAs. Earlier this week, ITP announced it is now offering IT infrastructure assessments to RIAs to identify ways you can proactively build up your defenses against online attacks.

ITP’s assessment consists of a pre-visit questionnaire, an onsite inspection, and a post-visit follow-up, all in an effort to help you update your policies and procedures to address cybersecurity risks. Back in episode 129, I told you about the SEC’s new cybersecurity initiative and potential for increased enforcement around this area, so if you’ve been sitting on your hands since then, let this serve as another reminder that you now have a variety of providers you can engage to navigate you through this challenging landscape. In addition to ITP, popular cybersecurity audit providers include Itegria, Envision RIA, External IT, True North Networks, Right Size Solutions, and more.] Investment Technology Partners, an outsourced cloud IT provider focused in the Independent Registered Investment Advisory marketplace has begun conducting IT infrastructure assessments for RIA firms who have engaged them be sure their firms can positively respond to the an SEC audit looking into cybersecurity policies.

Here are the stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/td-ameritrade-offers-robo-technology-to-advisers-1414013725 from WSJ.com

TD Ameritrade Offers Robo Technology to Advisers from WSJ.com

TD Ameritrade AMTD +0.39% is making robo technology available to the 4,000 independent registered investment advisers who use its custody and trade clearing services. The technology is coming from a fledgling San Francisco firm, Upside Financial LLC, and is in the final stages of being added on to the Omaha, Neb.-based brokerage firm’s systems that are used by independent advisers to manage client money.

United Capital Picks Up $320M California RIA from WealthManagement.com

A strategic partnership between United Capital and the founders of financial planning tool FlexScore led United Capital acquiring a Modesto-based firm with $320 million in assets.

Inbox from GMail: The inbox that works for you

Built on everything we learned from Gmail, Inbox is a fresh start that goes beyond email to help you get back to what matters.

Junxure Enhances Its Cloud CRM from ThinkAdvisor

Junxure has released an enhancement to Junxure Cloud, the first major upgrade to the cloud-based CRM program used by RIA firms and broker-dealer reps since its launch this summer.

Encryption: What Advisors Need to Know from Financial Planning

Encrypt sensitive information, planners are routinely warned by security experts. Many states even require it. But there’s also confusion out there among advisors about the nuts and bolts of encryption.

Erado Announces Expanded Partnership with Investacorp from Digital Journal

Erado, an innovator in electronic communication compliance, announced today that it has expanded its partnership with Investacorp, Inc., to include Erado’s email archiving and all-encompassing social media compliance platform.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 24, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 17

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

On today’s broadcast, Betterment Institutional releases its online investment solution for advisors. Will the industry rush to adopt this new digital solution for emerging clients? The SEC admits it doesn’t know where its laptops are. Could you be at risk of making the same mistakes committed by this industry watchdog? And, hackers claim to have stolen millions of passwords from Dropbox. Find out what you should be doing right now to protect the information you store online.

So get ready, FPPad Bits and Bytes begins now.

(Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes on YouTube)

Today’s episode is brought to you by Wealthbox CRM: Simple, social, and collaborative CRM for financial advisors.

If you’re considering switching your CRM, connect with Amber from Team Wealthbox to get a personal demo at Wealthbox.com.

Here are the links to this week’s top stories:

Robo advisor Betterment works with Fidelity in RIA push from CNBC

[This week’s top story highlights Betterment Institutional, who this week announced the official release of an advisor-friendly version of its popular direct-to-consumer service that currently manages over $600 million in customer assets.

No doubt influenced by the guidance and financial investments from Steve Lockshin and Marty Bicknell, Betterment Institutional allows advisors to white label the Betterment platform and offer it to all clients for a cost of 25 basis points per year. Advisors can charge an additional fee if they so choose.

In addition, Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services announced that the company will include Betterment Institutional among a list of practice management resources it offers to advisors. But the use of Betterment Institutional is not exclusive to Fidelity, so whatever your custodial affiliation is today, you can begin to use Betterment Institutional if you’re seeking a low-cost automated investment solution for your emerging clients.

Betterment Institutional joins Upside Advisor, Guide Financial, JemStep and a few others as an advisor-friendly automated investment solution, and you’ll want to stay tuned for news following the Schwab IMPACT conference, as details on that custodian’s much anticipated free investment platform should be made public.] If you can’t beat the robots, join them. That’s what Betterment—the ultra-low cost, computer-driven personal portfolio service—hopes financial professionals will do with its new institutionally focused “robo-advisor” offering.

Missing SEC laptops risk release of nonpublic information, inspector says from Marketwatch

[Next up is an embarrassing revelation from the Securities and Exchange Commission, as the industry watchdog admitted that somewhere between 24 and 202 laptops were unaccounted for, opening up the risk that private, nonpublic information could be exposed. Is this when I should do a forehead slap?

Alright, so the SEC has its own data security issues to deal with, but I want to take a moment to challenge you about how you’re keeping your business and client information safe. Do you use full disk encryption on the laptops you use for work? You should.

Windows 8.1 Pro and Enterprise offers BitLocker drive encryption for free, and if you use Mac, FileVault 2 disk encryption is built right in to the operating system. All you need to do is turn the feature on and protect your laptop with a strong login password.

And don’t forget about your mobile devices. Every device you use should be protected with a login passcode, the longer the better, and in most cases, requiring a passcode automatically enables device encryption.] The inspector-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a report that there’s at least 24 and as many as 202 laptops that are not accounted for, which risks the release of sensitive, nonpublic information.

Dropbox says it wasn’t hacked. But that doesn’t help users whose information was leaked from The Washington Post

[And finally, Dropbox made headlines this week as reports circulated that hackers claimed to have accessed over 7 million usernames and passwords to the popular online file storage service. Dropbox insists that its systems were not hacked, but rather the login credentials were obtained from unrelated companies and services.

Once again, it’s critical that you follow good online account protection practices: Use a unique password for each website, activate multi-factor authentication where possible, and consider managing login credentials in a reputable password management service like LastPass, 1Password, Meldium, and more.] Dropbox was the latest company under the gun on security, when a link on reddit surfaced a claim that hackers have nearly 7 million usernames — plus their passwords — from the storage service on Monday.

Here are the stories that didn’t make this week’s broadcast:

Canva Launches iPad App to Bring Amazingly Simple Design to Your Fingertips at Canva.com

We’re very excited to today announce the launch of the Canva app for iPad.

Watch FPPad Bits and Bytes for October 17, 2014

FPPad Bits and Bytes for July 5

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Bill Winterberg in Bits & Bytes

fireworks

The Fourth of July holiday is an ideal time for independent financial advisers in the U.S. to celebrate independence.

But before you leave for the long weekend of hot dogs, hamburgers and cold drinks, take three minutes to review this week’s stories of interest:

Lockbox and Smarsh Partner to Offer a New Standard in Privacy and Security Service to Financial Services Professionals from Marketwire.com and Exemplar Turns to the Cloud for Document Security from Financial-Planning.com

[Who is Lockbox? They rapidly advanced up my watch list of companies with technology solutions for financial advisers. Lockbox is an Australian company that just entered the US market in May this year. They are entering a crowded space of cloud document storage providers along with Dropbox, Box, ShareFile, SpiderOak, and many more. Lockbox’s strong points are that it offers two-factor authentication and client-side encryption (see: Evaluating Online Document Storage at the Journal of Financial Planning for more details), but Lockbox lacks a number of features I’d like to see in a true solution for advisers. As of today, Lockbox isn’t compatible with Mac, they don’t offer desktop file synchronization, and they don’t have mobile apps for iOS or Android. Add these capabilities and change pricing from user based to storage capacity based, and I’ll be interested.] Lockbox, the leader in privacy and security service, today announced that AdvisorSquare, part of the Smarsh suite of website services designed specifically for financial services professionals, has joined the company’s affiliate community.

SigFig Lands $15 Million in Series B Funding From Top Investors from Finovate.com

[Officially launched just under two years ago, San Francisco-based SigFig raised $15 million in Series B funding to . Formerly known as WikiInvest, SigFig aggregates over $75 billion in assets on its platform and is entirely about making investment analysis accessible and transparent, while delivering investment recommendations in an attempt to generate a higher return in a portfolio. Recommendations typically cover switching mutual funds or ETFs for similar, lower-fee versions, or changing financial institutions where lower trading commission charges are offered. But for clients who have professional investment advisers, SigFig compares portfolio performance to a peer group of thousands of other investment advisers aggregated in the platform. If your portfolio isn’t performing, SigFig tells clients “Your adviser sucks for the following reasons:” How’s that for a nudge?!?] SigFig, the platform that helps users manage a total of $75 billion in assets, recently received $15 million in Series B funding.

Tech Review: New Digital Content Services from Financial-Planning.com

[You work something like 40 hours a week. If you want to maximize time servicing existing clients and attracting new ones, how much time should you be devoting to creating content shared on social media networks? Probably not a lot. Thankfully, Joel Bruckenstein shares two providers, Vestorly (listen to my podcast with Vestorly co-founder Justin Wisz at Social currency might just be the answer to financial advisers’ frustration with social media) and AdvisorDeck, in his July column at Financial Planning that can streamline your content generation process, saving you precious time while still allowing you to maximize your compliant use of social media.] While many advisors have struggled to adopt social networking tools, there have been few low-cost, turnkey solutions to help advisors curate information and automatically deliver digital content to clients and prospects.

Succession Planning for an Entire Industry: Why Study Groups Aren’t That Bad from AdvisorOne.com

[Warning: subtle self promotion ahead! This story by AdvisorOne’s John Sullivan tells you why study groups are not bad, contrary to what compliance adviser Tom Giachetti might say. I belong to an outstanding study group called Xcelsior, and in this story you’ll ready why this study group shows that an exciting future lies ahead for the financial planning industry.] Compliance curmudgeon Tom Giachetti doesn’t think much of study groups. “Study groups are a bunch of people sitting around convincing each other that they’re right,” the chairman of the securities practice group at the law firm of Stark & Stark said recently in Denver.

What iOS 4.2 for iPad Will Mean for Financial Advisers

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Bill Winterberg in Technology

Advisers are cautiously adopting the Apple iPad in their practices. Several enhancements in the device’s latest operating system due out soon should diminish their concerns over security and usability.

This month, Apple will release version 4.2 of its iOS mobile operating system for the iPad. To date, advisers have been excited about the iPad’s potential to enhance their practice, but concerns regarding security and business functionality have tempered rapid adoption of the tablet device.

For financial advisers still on the fence about adding an iPad to their business, iOS 4.2 should alleviate many concerns they had when the product was first announced. Here’s how the update can enhance the device’s adoption in the industry.

Security

Security and protection of client data are of the utmost importance to financial advisers. iOS 4.2 increases the iPad’s security protections in numerous ways. The easiest way to digest the security improvements is by seeing them in a list:

E-mail messages and attachments stored on the device are now encrypted by using the passcode lock as an encryption key.
Applications have increased security options via new Mobile Device Management APIs. These APIs allow third-parties to manage iPads remotely, allowing administrators to specify configuration settings, monitor corporate policy compliance, and lock or wipe the device’s data completely.
VPN connections to corporate networks are now supported through WPA2 Enterprise Wi-Fi, IPSec, and SSL VPN. SSL VPN support is anticipated from apps supplied by Juniper and Cisco.

The takeaway for advisers is that iOS 4.2 brings stronger security and encryption to the iPad, allowing for greater confidence in the protection of sensitive data that could be stored (permanently or temporarily) on the device. Chief Compliance Officers should be much more willing to allow the use of iPads in their environment as a result of these improvements.

Productivity

Two iOS 4.2 features most likely to improve productivity on the iPad are multitasking and folders for apps.

Multitasking is the feature most laggards cite as the primary reason to avoid buying an iPad. “What good is it if you can only run one app at a time?” they cried.

Ironically, in today’s seemingly multi-tasking dominated environment, single-tasking, that is, focusing specifically on one task and ignoring all other activities, is gaining momentum. Personally, I often use the Get Focused feature of RescueTime to disable applications I’ve labeled as the most distracting (e.g. e-mail, social media, etc.) for a short period of time.

Nevertheless, iOS 4.2 now permits multitasking of apps, realistically only limited to the memory available to run multiple apps. What multitasking will do is increase the ease of switching between apps to copy and paste pieces of text and information. Users will no longer be forced to completely exit one app, copy information in another app, and restart the original app from the beginning to paste the information.

Second, iOS 4.2 now supports folders that can be used to organize apps. Folders allow users to free up valuable screen space by consolidating apps into logical folder groups. No longer will one need to swipe left and right across several screens to select apps. Folders make it possible to select apps with far fewer gestures, ultimately saving time and preventing frustration.

E-mail

iOS 4.2 is capable of consolidating multiple e-mail accounts into one unified view in the native e-mail app. E-mails for personal, business, social, and miscellaneous accounts can all be viewed in one application without needing to maually switch back and forth between accounts.

Personally, the unified e-mail feature isn’t too appealing as I use Google’s mobile-optimized web-based e-mail client, particularly because I’m a heavy user of labels and global search, both of which are not available in the iPad e-mail app. Still, for advisers with multiple Exchange e-mail accounts, this unification is an attractive feature.

Miscellaneous

Finally, several miscellaneous additions are coming to the iPad, such as wireless print support (ironic and not necessary), Apple TV connectivity (cool), and text search while in Safari (about time!).

For advisers still debating whether or not to become an iPad adopter, iOS 4.2 offers several compelling features that should make the device a valuable addition to any adviser’s portfolio of technology tools.

FPPad