Santa Clara, CA – September 17, 2018 – Entreda, an industry-leading developer of integrated cybersecurity software and solutions for the retail wealth management industry, today announced the launch of its second generation Unify platform. The new platform, which was rolled out at the BNY Mellon Albridge Forum held Sept. 13-14 in Chicago, is designed to safeguard independent broker-dealers and registered investment adviser (RIA) firms from the widest possible spectrum of digital threats in today’s environment, including threats that originate from both outside and within financial firms. The platform includes support for multiple branch offices, broker-dealers and hybrid RIAs within the same organization as well as the ability to drill down on specific users, device types and compliance failures. The launch of the new platform builds on Entreda’s continued efforts to raise broader industry standards in combating cybersecurity threats, including the company’s creation of a Unified Cyber Risk Number in 2016, which serves as an objective third-party assessment of a firm’s potential vulnerability to cybercrimes as well as ensures compliance with SEC, FINRA and NY-DFS regulatory guidelines. Entreda is listed in FINRA’s cybersecurity regulatory directory.

Commenting on the new platform’s launch, Sid Yenamandra, Entreda’s Co-Founder and CEO, said, “Regulatory, privacy and technology trends have converged to make severe cybersecurity breaches a clear and present danger to independent firms and advisors who ignore such risks.

We built Entreda Unify to address the enormous surge of demand from firms across the industry for a solution set that can consistently keep them multiple steps ahead of hackers, phishing scams and thieves. Increasingly, RIAs and broker-dealers recognize the true potential costs of failing to take the proper precautions, and making every effort to frequently review and maintain comprehensive oversight of their IT infrastructure, and to do so as efficiently as possible, by combining automation with objective human expertise.”

Entreda’s Unify platform automatically monitors when connected users are putting a firm’s data at risk, notifies the firm administrator as well as the at-risk user with guidance on how to take corrective action, when appropriate makes such changes itself, and updates the Cyber Risk Number based on the behavior of all users connected to the firm through the Entreda Unify app downloaded to their devices. The app can operate on each desktop, laptop, smartphone and tablet that a firm’s employees and affiliates use to access its servers. Additionally, the Unify platform also includes new reporting capabilities that give firms greater insights about all key aspects of their cybersecurity status at any given point in time, to enable expeditious actions with immediate positive impact.

The Cyber Risk Number is a holistic way of mapping vulnerabilities using data models, by allowing companies to customize the weighting of their risk parameters within regulatory guidelines, and in accordance with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) framework. Each firm and user receives a Cyber Risk Number along with how their Number compares with other firms and users on the platform.

Mr. Yenamandra continued, “With 74% of financial advisors in business already having been the target of a cyberattack, and the average remediation cost per single lost or stolen record at $141 in direct expenses, firms could easily face catastrophic million-dollar losses under a full-scale cyber breach. Central to how our Unify platform helps firms and advisors avoid such outcomes is our integration of thorough and up-to-date training for independent firms, advisors and their staff members. We focus on customized education about the missteps that can compromise client data integrity, the regulatory standing of firms and advisors, and by extension, their continued business viability.”

Attendees at the BNY Mellon Albridge Forum received a first look at the new platform, including a hands-on demonstration at the TechLab Space. As part of this launch, the Entreda team detailed for RIA and broker-dealer representatives how the full scope of Entreda’s financial-focused software can strengthen cybersecurity at their firms, particularly through services like Phishing Simulation and Security Awareness Training as well as Third Party Vendor Due Diligence.