Now what was my mother's maiden name?
It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Being locked out of information portals that give you access to your own data? “No, we won’t tell YOU how much money YOU have with us because YOU’VE spelt password with one ‘s’ instead of two!”. Then you are left with a choice… give up and live vivaciously; hoping quietly that you haven’t spent beyond your means while promising yourself that you’ll definitely get it sorted once and for all next month. Or admit defeat and, tail between legs, make the dreaded phone call to beg forgiveness for momentarily forgetting your mother’s maiden name.
As a financial service provider, we sometimes find ourselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to our client portal. On the one hand, our absolutely priority is to keep your personal information as secure as it can possibly be. On the other hand, we’d like you to be able to see it when you want to!
Cyber security (or lack of) is an ever-increasing risk to both businesses and their clients - you. Numerous recent news reports have highlighted just how damaging cyber-attacks can be. Regulation (such as GDPR) and technology are improving firms’ defences against cyber-crime – Ravenscroft are very proud of the fact that the technology we use to protect our client information is absolutely cutting edge and is constantly evolving. However, the most vulnerable line of defence tends to be the human element.
Over the last year or so, there has been a change in tack from cyber criminals; from targeting organisations to going after the clients who deal with these organisations. We take this risk very seriously and want to do everything we can to prevent our clients from falling victim.
There are a few basic things that you can do to protect yourself against cyber-crime:
1) Ensure you have an active Anti-Virus software running on all of your devices
2) Use strong passwords (include special characters and numbers)
3) Avoid using the same password on different sites, particularly between social media and networking accounts (Facebook, Linkedin etc), and accounts where you engage in financial transactions (PayPal, internet banking etc).
4) Avoid links on untrusted emails and don’t open unknown attachments
5) Check if your personal details have been leaked: Use a website such as https://haveibeenpwned.com/ to see if your email address and its login credentials have been leaked as a result of an institutional data breach
6) Be very wary of unexpected changes in key information: Most professional organisations will vary rarely change details such as banking instructions. If you receive a change in these details, call the institution in question and ask for confirmation from someone you know and trust
And finally: if in doubt, please ask! We employ specialists in cyber security and they are always on hand to answer any questions that you may have, assist you in protecting yourself or simply to put your mind at ease. Over the course of the summer, we will be rolling out a new and improved client portal, which has improved functionality and aesthetics as well as a secure document storage and upload system. You will receive instructions that explain how to access this when the time comes and you will receive an email with your username and password. When you log on, you will be sent a six digit security code which adds an extra layer of security, as even if someone has seen your password, only you will have access to your code (this will all be clearly explained in the instructions).
We hope that you will like the new portal and we hope that this note helps to reassure you that we take your cyber security as seriously as we take your investments.
Now, if only I could remember what my first dog was called….