Advisor Group Introduces CyberGuard Program To Protect Advisors And Clients From Ever-Increasing Threat Of Cyber Attacks

PHOENIX, July 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Advisor Group, one of the nation's largest networks of independent wealth management firms, comprising FSC Securities Corporation, Royal Alliance Associates, SagePoint Financial and Woodbury Financial, today announced the introduction of the CyberGuard Program, an evolving toolkit of cybersecurity services and support platforms aimed at empowering its 7,000 advisors across the country to protect themselves and their clients from the ever-increasing threat of cyber-attacks. The program is designed to evolve over time as advisors' cybersecurity needs continue to grow in the future.

Jamie Price, President and Chief Executive Officer of Advisor Group, said, "Advisor Group's commitment to providing advisors with industry-leading tools, resources and flexibility extends to the critical area of cybersecurity. Our new CyberGuard Program leverages our scale to offer a suite of state-of-the-art cybersecurity tools that enable advisors to ensure that clients' sensitive personal data is kept safe and secure. All the efforts of our top-notch group of security experts ladder up to our core mission ? to stand in our advisors' corner, supporting them every step of the way."

The CyberGuard Program includes the following features and platforms at launch:

• Comprehensive cybersecurity insurance, including privacy / data breach insurance protection and coverage for breach response costs, regulatory liability and business disruption;
• Discounted access to a leading cloud-based data backup solution that gives advisors secure, encrypted access to files from laptops, smartphones and other devices;
• Access to a security auditing and monitoring platform that continually monitors advisors' systems to identify potential security gaps, while providing trusted login enforcement, login reporting and remediation support; and
• Enhanced email and file storage capabilities with strong authentication and security monitoring features.

Advisor Group has created the CyberGuard Program as an offering that will continually evolve to serve advisors' and clients' needs over time. As one example, the company will be adding a capability to the program in the coming months that will scour the dark web for stolen advisor login credentials, protect against email phishing and assess the potential cyber risk of third-party providers.

Ed Obuchowski, Chief Technology Officer of Advisor Group, said, "With the CyberGuard Program, we are launching a strong, flexible chassis for cybersecurity solutions that will allow applications and services from leading-edge providers to be seamlessly integrated with our proprietary systems and then smoothly deployed to our advisor community. Moving forward, the program will grow and adapt to stay ahead of new cyber threats that are arising and evolving virtually every day. Our CyberGuard Program will help advisors defend their businesses even more effectively by allowing our team to quickly identify the best possible tools to detect and counteract threats, then get them in the hands of the people on the front lines who need them most."

The new program also provides advisors with on-demand access to a group of dedicated cybersecurity experts whose mission is to help advisors optimize their use of Advisor Group's cybersecurity offerings by answering advisors' questions, providing consultative services, and supporting them in addressing cyber-related issues.

Advisor Group has also added top cybersecurity experts to its senior management team as part of its efforts to protect advisors' businesses from cyber threats. These hires include Jason Lish, who serves as Chief Security, Privacy, and Data Officer for Advisor Solutions. Mr. Lish reports to Mr. Obuchowski and comes with an extensive cyber-security background protecting organizations such as Alight Solutions, Charles Schwab and Honeywell.

Mr. Lish said, "Clients entrust their data and their financial lives to their advisors. Cyber-attacks can breach that trust and, as such, they pose a clear and present danger to the business reputations that advisors have worked so hard to build and maintain. With the CyberGuard Program, we are freeing our affiliated advisors from the need to source and build comprehensive cybersecurity systems on their own from scratch. This stronger level of protection in turn empowers them to run their businesses without fear of ever-escalating threats from cyber criminals across the financial advice space, while staying compliant with data protection regulations."

About Advisor Group
Advisor Group, Inc. is one of the nation's largest networks of independent financial advisors serving over 7,000 advisors and overseeing $268 billion in client assets. Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, the firm is mission-driven to support the heroic role that advisors can play in the lives of their clients, offering securities and investment advisory services through its subsidiaries FSC Securities Corp., Royal Alliance Associates Inc., SagePoint Financial, Inc. and Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., as broker/dealers, registered investment advisors and members of FINRA and SIPC. Cultivating a spirit of entrepreneurship and independence, Advisor Group champions the enduring value of financial advisors and is committed to being in their corner every step of the way. For more information visit https://www.advisorgroup.com

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SOURCE Advisor Group, Inc.