CWG Insight Series: Security at Crown Wealth Group
At Crown, we know how important the security of your personal information is to you and we are happy to report we have never had a breach. With the rise of security incidents globally, we felt it was our responsibility to inform you how we use and protect your data.
At a firm level, we have implemented a cyber security training program, requiring our team to take monthly education courses and be subjected to random access attempts, usually through fake phishing emails. Our team has been diligent in learning what to look out for and to reject all suspicious emails.
As your advisory team, we use four main platforms where many parts of your data stored:
- TD Ameritrade/Charles Schwab
- Citrix ShareFile
- eMoney Advisor
- Redtail CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
Each of these platforms utilize SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology, and are the same systems used by multi-billion-dollar companies. SSL encrypts information by scrambling it before it is sent from your computer. These platforms replace their encryption keys annually. 2-factor authentication (2FA) is an additional fraud detection tool that introduces another layer of security; you are sent a verification code to your mobile phone which you must then input along with your username and password in order to access your personal financial website. 2FA is used when we send you paperwork via DocuSign, ensuring that you are the only one who is able to access the information.
Charles Schwab bought TD Ameritrade in 2019 and will combine the two platforms later this year. Crown Wealth Group does not hold, or “custody” any of your assets. This is important as we do not have direct access to move your money anywhere without your consent. TD Ameritrade is where we currently custody your assets, which again, will become Charles Schwab later this year. TD utilizes advanced controlled firewalls that separate their public website from the servers holding account and personal data, meaning this information cannot be accessed directly online.
Like a lot of firms today, we depend solely on cloud-based technology. We are a paperless firm, meaning we have no hard copy of anything you send to us in our office. Citrix ShareFile is where we store all your documents, varying from estate plans to tax returns. You are utilizing ShareFile when you send us files via our individual secure links. These documents are encrypted before being sent to protect against transmission theft. ShareFile stores client files at rest using AES 256-bit encryption and riles are stored in replicate with leading Cloud Service Providers like AWS and Azure that ensure high file durability and availability.
eMoney is where we keep your live balance sheet of all assets and liabilities, and where you are able to log in to view and upload your data. When you link an account, we have no access to the login information, and it’s encrypted on eMoney’s end. eMoney’s SSL is the highest level of encryption currently available today. Your data here is housed at secure, geographically separated data centers that are under surveillance 24/7/365.
Redtail is where we store your personal data, such as address and SSN, and also where we log all client communications. All data is backed up nightly in three separate locations. The security systems at Redtail are independently monitored by third parties to ensure the security of your data.
Should you have any questions about the protection of your information, please do not hesitate to reach out. We take this very seriously and will continue to be diligent in our efforts to protect it.