Royal London has adopted Unipass Mailock, the industry’s secure email communication system provided by Origo and cyber security specialist Beyond Encryption and will use it to help secure communications data and protect against cybercrime.
Will Pritchett, chief technology officer, Royal London said: “The safety and security of our clients’ data is paramount. Given the rise of increasingly sophisticated Cybercrime techniques we need to continuously respond to new challenges. Unipass Mailock will reinforce our existing security measures by helping to secure our communications and to ensure that the person opening the email is authorised to do so, thereby also helping to protect against fraud. It’s simple and intuitive, with advisers able to open and reply to any Unipass Mailock email sent to them free of charge.”
Aegon became the first of the major financial services providers in the UK to deploy Unipass Mailock in August 2020.
Commenting, industry technology expert, Ian McKenna (left) of the Financial Technology Research Centre , said: “It is good to see Royal London join Aegon but more platforms and life offices should join them urgently.
“In a recent Financial Services Ombudsman case a client was awarded thousands of pounds in compensation because identity substitution fraud had taken place. Those companies not embracing a single industry email encryption solution are putting advisers and their clients at risk unnecessarily. Data security is a crucial issue and Unipass Mailock is a compelling solution.”
Anthony Rafferty, CEO, Origo, said companies were increasingly realising “the very real risk to their business as criminals actively use developing technology to target unsecured emails and access sensitive and valuable information.
“Often it is the simplest means and the weakest link which is targeted. Email remains a primary way for criminals to obtain the information they need and to infiltrate companies’ systems.
“Cybercriminals are becoming ever more resourceful and for companies to know they have locked down their email communications through using the highest standard of encryption, and identity verification in an auditable process, can be a significant step in helping to protect their business against cybercrime.”
Unipass Mailock uses military-grade encryption and unique identity authentication capabilities which can be quickly adopted into providers’ and advisers’ systems.
Enabling secure and efficient communication of sensitive personal, financial, medical or policy information for advisers and their clients is paramount whilst also addressing ICO concerns to ensure that only the intended recipient can read and reply to the message.
Whether desktop or mobile, from an audit perspective, the system confirms when an identity verified client has opened the email and accessed attachments to help meet compliance requirements such as SM&CR, Mi-Fid and GDPR, consequentially reducing business risk
Paul Holland, CEO and founder of Beyond Encryption added: “We’re delighted that the Unipass Mailock echo system and family is growing so rapidly to help address cybercrime – it’s a topic that affects us all with reputational and financial damage on the cards in the event of a breach.
“Unipass Mailock is a huge deterrent to the cybercriminal world, so important given the escalating risks in these remote working times. Providers, platforms, advisers and their clients can simply and effectively protect their confidential and sensitive communications to significantly reduce risk to their businesses and customers.”
