Advisors and financial firms
Financial Services IT
Wealth and financial firms get judged on trust. Secure Techies keeps the technology side of that trust intact — access control, email security, and systems that stay up when markets do not.
Why this industry is different
Client money and client data travel together
A spoofed wire instruction is an IT problem and a firm problem. The stack has to assume someone will try.
- 01
Identity is the perimeter
Shared mailboxes and leftover contractor accounts are how most incidents start. We treat identity cleanup as week-one work.
- 02
Vendor and custodian questionnaires
Broker-dealers and custodians ask for MFA, encryption, and incident process. We help you answer with what is actually running.
- 03
Quiet offices, loud risk
A ten-person advisory shop holds more sensitive data than a 50-person warehouse. Size is not the risk model.
What is in the plan
Everything we do for financial firms
Identity and email first. Then the rest of the office. That is still how most incidents start — and how most questionnaires are answered.
Identity and email
- Identity cleanupLeftover contractors, shared mailboxes, and leftover admin rights.
- Email authentication and filteringSPF, DKIM, DMARC, and a help desk that treats urgent wires as suspicious.
- MFA everywhereMail, VPN, and the custodian portals we can reach.
Proof and endpoints
- Endpoint protectionEDR and encryption on advisor laptops.
- Questionnaire evidenceWe answer from the live environment, not a sales deck.
- Backups including Microsoft 365Mailbox and file restores that have been tested.
Day-to-day
- Help deskAdvisors and operations staff get a human.
- On-site SoCalHardware and office network from Canoga Park.
Most wire fraud starts as an email problem. We treat email as a security system.
How the work is packaged
IT we run for financial firms
Security and availability first. Then the everyday help desk so advisors stay in front of clients.
Cybersecurity
Email security, EDR, MFA, and monitoring aimed at business-email compromise.
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Compliance and audits
Control mapping and evidence for questionnaires — not theater.
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Managed help desk
Fast support for advisors and operations staff.
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Backup and recovery
Tested recovery for mail, files, and the systems that hold client records.
View serviceWhat we harden first
Identity and email. That is where most financial-office incidents still start.
- Microsoft 365
- MFA everywhere
- SPF / DKIM / DMARC
- EDR on endpoints
- Custodian / vendor questionnaires
- Mailbox backup
IT support for wealth and financial firms
Secure Techies provides financial services IT for advisory and professional finance offices in Southern California. The job is to keep client data tight and the desktop boring — in the best way. A spoofed wire instruction is both an IT problem and a firm problem. The stack has to assume someone will try.
We use the same cybersecurity and backup stack we run for law firms. If the office is primarily a tax practice, see accounting IT.
Who we work with
Independent RIAs, advisory shops, and professional finance offices — not national banks. Typical size is 8 to 40 people. A ten-person advisory firm often holds more sensitive data than a 50-person warehouse. Size is not the risk model. For a worked example, see our IT risk assessment case study for a San Fernando Valley advisory firm.
SEC cybersecurity material for advisers is a useful reminder that “we have antivirus” is no longer an answer to a custodian or a client.
What is included
A standard engagement covers:
- Managed help desk for advisors and operations staff
- Identity cleanup: leftover contractors, shared mailboxes, leftover admin rights
- MFA on mail, VPN, and the portals we can reach
- Email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and filtering aimed at business-email compromise
- Endpoint detection and encryption on advisor laptops
- Backup and disaster recovery that includes Microsoft 365, with restore tests
- Questionnaire answers taken from the live environment
- On-site hardware and office network from Canoga Park
We are not your CCO. Regulatory exams belong to your compliance officer and counsel. We make the technical answers examinable.
Wire fraud and email
Most incidents in this market still start as an email. Urgent-sounding wiring instructions, a lookalike domain, a mailbox that forwarded copies for a week before anyone noticed. We treat email as a security system: authentication, filtering, MFA, and a help desk that slows down “send this now” instead of rushing it.
Custodian and client questionnaires
Broker-dealers and custodians ask the same cluster of questions: MFA, encryption, backups, monitoring, incident process, who is on call. We map the live environment to those questions and close the gaps before you send the form back. Formal SOC 2 attestation and legal interpretations stay with your auditor and counsel.
Coverage and cost
Canoga Park headquarters. On-site across Southern California. Remote when that is faster.
Pricing depends on headcount, locations, and how much security and questionnaire work is in scope. We quote after a free assessment. Planning ranges for professional firms are on the FAQ.
Call (818) 450-5384 or contact us.
Related reading
How an engagement starts
How we engage an advisory shop
We make the technical answers on your next questionnaire true.
- 01
Inventory identity
Leftover contractors, shared mailboxes, and admin rights nobody remembers.
- 02
Close email holes
Authentication, filtering, and MFA. Then we train people to treat urgent wires as suspicious.
- 03
Evidence pack
Enough documentation to answer a custodian without fiction.
- 04
Stay on watch
Help desk plus monitoring so a takeover is not discovered by a client.
Why this team
How we work with financial teams
We are not your compliance officer. We are the team that makes the technical answers true.
No fake FINRA badge
We support the technology. Regulatory exams belong to your CCO and counsel. We make the environment examinable.
Same discipline as legal work
Confidentiality, least privilege, and written process. About half our book is already law firms.
Local and reachable
Canoga Park team, Southern California on-site, remote when that is faster.
Clear scope
Monthly plan versus project work is written down so invoices stay predictable.
Financial IT questions
Do you work with RIAs and independent advisors?
Can you help with SOC 2 or SEC cybersecurity questions?
How do you reduce business-email compromise?
Do you replace our existing cybersecurity vendor?
Will you complete custodian and broker-dealer questionnaires?
How much does financial-firm IT support cost?
Do you work with firms that already have a compliance officer?
Where are you based?
Other industries
Law firms
Healthcare
Accounting
ConstructionReady to talk about your IT?
A free assessment from the Canoga Park team. We will tell you what we would fix first.