PLANSPONSOR - December/January 2020 - 11

Participants' Cyber Self-Defense
PLAN sponsors are taking measures to
battle cyberattacks on retirement plan
participant data and accounts, but is there
anything participants should be doing to
protect their own data?
It is already known that participants
should register their plan accounts online.
If a participant has his account hacked,
there is a higher probability of catching it
if the account is registered.
" We sometimes hear people say, 'My
account is safe because I never registered
for online access,' " says Charlie
Nelson, CEO of Voya Retirement. " That
can be misguided. Fraudsters will sometimes
try to get access to an unregistered
account so they can set the original data
points, such as a phone number or other
piece of information. "
The first step toward securing
personal assets and data is knowing where
that information lies, says Ted Schmelzle,
senior director of Retirement Solutions at
Securian Financial. While data breaches
can happen at any point, participants who
take ownership in protecting themselves
will be more cognizant of their assets,
thus avoiding losses in the case of a hack.
" Participants are going to have to be
aware of where their information is and, in
particular, where there might be vulnerabilities
because they've got assets held at
a particular institution, " says Schmelzle.
A strategy participants are always
urged to employ is to create a strong,
complex password. Doing this is common
sense, along with updating anti-virus
malware on personal computers to the
current version and avoiding links from
unknown users, Schmelzle says.
Additionally, participants should
be aware of what they are adding to their
social media accounts. Profile information,
including the city in which a participant
lives, a photo of the company he works for,
or even political opinions, for example, can
expose individuals to hackers. Schmelzle
uses the term " cyber-hygiene, " meaning
ensuring participants use these precautions
to the best of their ability, for both
financial wellness and personal protection.
One of the top methods for preventing
breaches, attacks and hacks is two-factor
or multi-factor authentication. A stronger
backup to secure passwords, it asks participants
to sign into their account in multiple
steps, which may include inputting their
password and approving it on another
device such as cellphone or tablet.
Although it is one of the most popular
TIDBITS
Equity Compensation Plans
Help Fund Retirement
Average
vested
balance
among
workers
who have
an equity
compensation
plan
$149,835
$97,711
Average
total account
value among
workers
who have
an equity
compensation
plan
Source: Schwab Stock Plan Services, survey
What Could Happen With Wider
Use of State-Run IRAs*
If a program
such as
OregonSaves
were
implemented
nationwide ...
... the
$3.83 trillion
U.S. retirement
savings
shortfall would
decrease by
$456 billion
(12%) ...
12%
... and, if
the program
offered autoportability,
the
deficit
would decline
by $759 billion
(20%).
Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute
20%
*Individual retirement accounts
60%
of workers who
have an equity
compensation
plan intend to use
the money to help
fund retirement.
measures for protecting data and information,
the approach can prove inconvenient
for some. A 2017 report by SecureAuth, an
adaptive authentication firm, found 74%
of respondents using two-factor authentication
said they have received complaints
about the process from their users.
Schmelzle says, " There are many
times where folks will have to understand
that additional hoops have to be jumped
through to protect the essence of the
account, even though it seems inconvenient
at the time. " -Amanda Umpierrez
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