Recognize that a cyber attack will occur at some point during a business lifecycle. Whether it is through web attacks, email phishing, exploit kits, point of sale, keystroke logging, or ransomware, the bad actors have figured out how to defeat your latest defense against a cyber attack. They know what will make you click on the link that will give them the beachhead into your computer system.
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Investment in collectible assets is growing worldwide as wealthy individuals in emerging markets such as China, India, and Latin America join the ranks of collectors. While most collectors invest primarily for their own pleasure, collectibles can be a good investment, too. If you collect items that you’re passionate about—whether they are cars or wine or jewelry or even autographed baseballs—it’s important to consider the financial side of your avocation and how to maximize the investment value of your collection.
It is an unfortunate fact of life that, as we age, our cognitive powers often decline. To assist people as they reach this stage in their lives, states provide a mechanism by which a person’s friends and family may petition a court to declare him or her incapacitated, and for the court to appoint a guardian to manage his or her affairs. While the guardianship process is meant to assist people in cognitive decline, it also exposes them to considerable risk. However, there are steps that you and your family can take to minimize those risks, including designating a preneed guardian.
Your first home, establishing your career, marriage, a new baby, a teen’s first car, a student going to college, retirement—many of life’s major events can affect not only your life insurance and estate plans but also your property and liability insurance. While insurance may not be top of mind during these memorable moments and key life-stage milestones, failure to make necessary changes to your policies can lead to uncovered losses.
Although public companies are most often the targets of shareholder claims and class-action suits, not-for-profit and private entities are not immune from litigation. As a director, you could be named personally in claims of fraud or financial mismanagement from which the entity’s indemnification provisions and business structure cannot always protect you. It is important to understand the risk of lawsuits—whether brought by shareholder, employee, governmental body, competitor, customer, or other third parties—and how you can be protected.
Cloud-based applications, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), offer significant benefits. They are highly affordable, require minimal IT involvement, have no hardware requirements, and offer great flexibility. Yet there can be significant risks to a firm if it does not review vendors carefully. Unfortunately, security controls vary significantly from one SaaS provider to the next. Knowing what to look for when selecting SaaS vendors and implementing sound security measures will help protect your firm against a data breach and the significant repercussions that come with it.
Commercial agreements come in a variety of types, but most have certain common provisions that should be carefully reviewed in the context of the underlying transaction covered by the agreement. When entering or reviewing one of these agreements, it is important to address the five key provisions that sometimes go unnoticed or are not given proper attention in the review process: (1) Confidentiality Provisions; (2) Indemnity Provisions; (3) Consequential and Special Damages; (4) Product Warranties; and (5) Audit Rights.
A significant step in the acquisition process is determining the structure of the deal. The two most common deal structures are: (1) the purchase of the ownership interests of the target (such as a stock deal), and (2) the purchase of substantially all of the target’s assets (or an asset deal). In an asset deal, the implication is that the target’s liabilities that are not expressly assumed by the acquirer remain liabilities of the target, and the acquirer will not have exposure to them. As a general rule, this is correct.
While the revolution of the “information age” creates tremendous advantages and helps accelerate innovation, it brings with it new risks—namely cyber attacks. While corporate attacks get most of the media attention, do not forget that individuals—especially the high net worth—need to be vigilant about cyber security. The good news is that you can protect yourself against cyber risks.
News reports show large-scale data breaches are on the rise and affecting large retailers and even consumer credit organizations. There are numerous categories of cyber crime, but the ones that affect the most victims include identity theft, credit card fraud, and social networking scams. However, there are actions you can take to better protect yourself, your family, and your lifestyle from cyber crime and its long-lasting effects.