More and more, the issue of cybersecurity advances as an increasing concern for plan sponsors and plan participants. More than 24 million Americans—nearly a quarter of U.S. adults—have had online accounts, such as workplace retirement apps, taken over by scammers, according to a 2021 Security.org survey. It’s an issue that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon and both plan sponsors and advisors must work with providers to gain clarity on two important questions:
- What is the process for helping to protect the participant against cyber-attacks?
- What requirements does the participant have to do to receive such assurances against cyber-attacks?
Upon the conclusion of The Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) Fiduciary Education Program held at The University of North Florida, Founder and CEO Fred Barstein spoke with adjunct lecturer Keola Elobt, co-founder of West Point Business Group, a firm that offers financial services ranging from corporate qualified plan management to individual wealth management. For Elbot, reassurance of cybersecurity for plan participants by providers is non-negotiable. Participants are deserving of knowing how exactly providers aim to protect against cyber-attacks. Thankfully, there are now various resources participants can use to gain more information to use as ammunition against cyber-attacks including the following documents from the Department of Labor:
- Cybersecurity Program Best Practices
- Tips for Hiring a Service Provider with Strong Security Practices
- Online Security Tip
Read the Full Transcript Here:
Fred Barstein:
Greetings. This is Fred Barstein, CEO and founder of TPSU, The Plan Sponsor University, here on campus at the University of North Florida, where we just completed a successful TPSU program with one of our adjunct lecturers from the West Point Business Group. Keola Elobt, welcome.
Keola Elobt:
Thank you, Fred.
Fred Barstein:
Is it okay if we ask you a few questions?
Keola Elobt:
Yes, sir.
Fred Barstein:
Very good. So before we do, tell us about your firm and how you got your name.
Keola Elobt:
Yeah, absolutely. So it didn’t take us very long to figure out the name. My partner and I are both West Point grads. We had a little stint with military service quite some time ago now, but we created the organization almost 20 years ago. Our focus is the retirement plan space, and then we do work with a lot of committee members on wealth management.
Fred Barstein:
Great. So one of the things that came up, and it does more and more with our programs, was cybersecurity. So is that a topic that you are hearing from your clients, and what are you recommending?
Keola Elobt:
Yeah, more and more. I think the understanding of the dilemma and the challenges that participants face, the fear they face, that’s kind of getting its way to the plan sponsor. So as part of a lot of our provider benchmarks, it becomes a component that we’re really analyzing.
No more just fund flexibility, fees, fiduciary assurances, that sort of thing. It is what is the provider, what is their tech spin, what is their process for helping protect our participants, and do they have assurances? And if they do have assurances, what requirements does the participant have to do to receive those guarantees or assurances?
Fred Barstein:
And is there some resources that plan sponsors can use to look in with their vendors and with their advisors as well?
Keola Elobt:
I think it’s gotten a lot better today than it was even five years ago. The Department of Labor weighed in. I think there was a point in time where sponsors were attempting to do that direct with vendors and asking their own custom questions. But of course, this created thousands of different iterations of possible questions, which was difficult for providers to really accommodate that.
And I think the Department of Labor has really synced that up by really stating, here are some major questions, a standardized answer sheet for your cybersecurity protocols. And I think sponsors today are much more capable of just attaining that document as opposed to asking their own custom questions.
Fred Barstein:
Right. Because you absolutely have to do that right now if you’re a plan sponsor. I never thought that would be an issue for a 401k, but it is. Final question, this was your first TPSU program. Thank you for your support. Why should plan sponsors come? What do you think they’ll get out of this program?
Keola Elobt:
Yeah, I think the content was excellent. The content is always going to be the driver, but I also think the component of putting like-minded plan sponsors in a room and letting them share their thoughts with what’s working and what’s not working, and then working through those with having some dialogue with other sponsors is amazing.
Plus, we get our partners in the industry to lend their professional expertise. So every question that one sponsor asks and is answered is then answered to 40 or 50 plan sponsors in one room. So extremely efficient. I’ve heard a lot of folks come by and say, “Thanks for doing this here in our market. It was awesome.”
Fred Barstein:
Great. And now we get to do it on 401k TV, so we share it even more, to 35,000 subscribers. Well, thanks for your time today. Thanks for supporting TPSU, and thank you for watching 401K TV.
Keola Elobt:
Thank you, Fred.
