Good practice in data security should be regarded as a pre-requisite of effective and successful wealth management businesses. This is principally because good data security is an integral part of private clients’ confidence in working with wealth management professionals.
It is well known that Guernsey has for many years been a significant centre for wealth management and private banking and that trust and fiduciary services are an important part of that offering. You may be aware that the Commission undertook a thematic review of data security practices across the banking sector in 2011 in Guernsey. http://bit.ly/1qyj2ZO
In that sector robust data security is regarded as fundamental to confidence in private banks. We believe this applies equally to trust and company service providers.
In the recent past theft of customer data has caused some major concerns in the banking sector and it is this potential reputational risk which lies at the root of our encouragement of greater awareness of good practice in this field and avoidance of complacency, especially since data security threats are ever changing. For the avoidance of confusion “data security” and ‘information security’ are terms which we regard as equivalent and interchangeable.
You will see from the Report that the ISO 27001 sets the standard for several areas of good practice. I would encourage licensees to benchmark their own data security practices against the ISO standard and the examples of good practice described in this Thematic Report. As is evident from the Report failings in data security are not strictly insurable events or activities. It therefore requires management and staff to adjust their ways to become more vigilant to the threats and to conform with good practice. Hence security awareness should not be regarded as just an interesting seminar topic but rather it should be part of day to day behaviour.
In that sense the outcome of this Report should be an active response and not a passive one.
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