August 31, 2021

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that three broker-dealer and investment advisory firms will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties.

Financial firm Cetera will pay $300,000, Cambridge Investment Research $250,000 and KMS Financial Services $200,000.

The SEC fined KMS Financial Services, Cetera and Cambridge Investment Research for failing to adopt and implement cybersecurity policies and procedures that led to the disclosure of personal information of thousands of customers.

Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit stated, “Investment advisers and broker-dealers must fulfill their obligations concerning the protection of customer data. It is not enough to write a policy requiring enhanced security measures if those requirements are not implemented or are only partially implemented, especially in the face of known attacks.”

For more information, read the original story in Reuters,