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LPL Financial Takes Action to Help Protect Investors’ Accounts Following Vendor Data Security Incident

LPL Financial

On November 1, 2018, LPL received notice that a data security incident occurred at one of our vendor firms, Capital Forensics, Inc. (CFI). The incident affected a small number of the vendor’s customers, including LPL. Learn what LPL is doing to help protect our investors whose personal information may have been involved in the incident.

LPL Financial notified certain investors this week about a data security incident at one of its service providers that involved some of their personal information. An unauthorized person gained access to data files on a third-party system used by Capital Forensics, Inc. (CFI), which provides data analysis and other services to financial sector clients such as LPL in support of regulatory matters. The files included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and account numbers of certain LPL investors.

Upon notification of the incident, LPL asked Capital Forensics to remove all LPL data from its systems. Once we determined what information was involved, we began working to notify our advisors and their clients.

Incident Response Mitigation

Upon learning of the incident, LPL promptly took actions to contain and remediate the incident, including implementing heightened monitoring on the LPL accounts involved. Affected accounts are already flagged within LPL’s systems, so we can apply additional scrutiny. Additional measures have been deployed but can’t be disclosed as doing so would undermine their effectiveness.

Law enforcement has also been notified of the incident, and LPL is working with Capital Forensics to assist in the investigation of this issue.

In addition, LPL is providing affected investors with credit monitoring and identity theft protection services from AllClear ID (https://www.allclearid.com/) at no cost to the investors. An informational flyer that summarizes the services can be found here. More details, along with an activation code for enrolling in the credit monitoring service, will be available to investors in a mailing beginning the week of November 19. A dedicated call center will also be live for investors with questions.

Next Steps

LPL will continue to review our protocols for protecting our clients’ personal information. We’re committed to learning from security incidents and further strengthening our controls and security measures to continue to earn the trust of our stakeholders.

LPL investors who have questions regarding the CFI data security incident can call the dedicated call center at (855) 683-1166.

 

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial is a leader in the retail financial advice market and the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer*. We serve independent financial advisors and financial institutions, providing them with the technology, research, clearing and compliance services, and practice management programs they need to create and grow thriving practices. LPL enables them to provide objective guidance to millions of American families seeking wealth management, retirement planning, financial planning and asset management solutions.

Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial. A registered investment advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC.

*Based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine June 1996-2018.