Invest in Your Business’s Security with Financial IT Services

Managed IT, SEC and FINRA compliance documentation, and wire fraud defense for advisors, CPA firms, and financial services businesses across North Carolina.

The Research Triangle’s financial services sector has expanded significantly over the past decade. Registered investment advisors, independent broker-dealers, family offices, wealth management firms, CPA and tax practices, mortgage originators, and insurance agencies are all growing their operations in a market where regulators have simultaneously increased their focus on cybersecurity and technology governance as core examination areas. The SEC’s Division of Examinations has published multiple risk alerts explicitly stating that IT security, access controls, and incident response documentation are active examination priorities. FINRA examination findings in the cybersecurity category have increased substantially since 2020.

CSP Inc. is a leading IT company for financial services businesses across Raleigh and the Research Triangle that are built around compliance as the baseline standard, not an optional add-on. Over twenty-five years of serving North Carolina businesses have given us direct experience with the regulatory frameworks, the specific threat landscape, and the technology environment that financial professionals in this region operate in.

• $2.9B Annual U.S. BEC losses targeting financial firms (FBI 2024)
• 72% Of SEC cyber exams found at least one IT deficiency
• 24/7 SOC monitoring for all financial services clients
• 100% Engagements include compliance documentation program

The IT and Compliance Landscape Raleigh Financial Firms Are Navigating

• Regulatory Examinations Are Actively Testing IT Security Posture
  SEC and FINRA examiners now routinely request written information security programs, evidence of the most recent cybersecurity risk assessments, access control documentation with user provisioning records, incident response plans with defined roles and notification procedures, security awareness training completion records, and Microsoft 365 audit log exports. These are not peripheral requests made to large firms. They are standard examination components applied to registered investment advisors of all sizes and to broker-dealers across the spectrum. Financial firms in the Triangle that have not built and maintained this documentation are carrying examination exposure they have not quantified.
• Wire Fraud Attacks Are Precisely Engineered for Financial Workflows
  Business email compromise attacks targeting financial firms are not generic phishing campaigns. Attackers conduct extended reconnaissance on the email communication patterns of advisory firms, identifying the names and email patterns of clients, custodians, counterparties, and administrators. They enter email chains at the precise moment when wire instructions are expected, impersonating known parties with convincing specificity. A financial advisor who has been communicating with a client about a distribution receives an email that looks like it comes from the client directing a specific wire to an unfamiliar account. The attack is timed to a transaction in progress. The email passes casual inspection. Without the right email security architecture and without trained staff who know the verification procedures for this exact scenario, the wire moves.
• Microsoft 365 Default Settings Are a Compliance Liability
  The majority of financial firms in North Carolina are running Microsoft 365 environments with the settings Microsoft ships with. In a financial services context, those defaults are a compliance problem. Conditional Access is disabled, meaning there are no device compliance checks before a login is permitted. Data loss prevention is not configured, meaning there is nothing preventing client financial data from being forwarded to personal email accounts. Email archiving retention periods are set without regard to the SEC Rule 17a-4 or FINRA Rule 4511 recordkeeping requirements applicable to the firm. Multi-factor authentication is often optional or inconsistently enforced. And the audit logging configuration does not capture the level of activity detail that examiners look for. Each of these is a gap that an examiner can find and cite in a finding. CSP Inc. reconfigures Microsoft 365 to financial-grade standards from the first month of the engagement.
• Remote and Hybrid Advisor Environments Create Managed Access Challenges
  Raleigh financial advisors work from home offices, from client locations, from conference rooms, and from the road. Each environment is a device and an access control question. Personal devices accessing portfolio management systems and client CRM platforms are typically unmanaged, unmonitored, and using network connections that have never been assessed for security adequacy. When these unmanaged endpoints are the access points for client financial data, the compliance posture of the firm at rest in the office is largely irrelevant. CSP Inc. builds remote access architectures that apply the same security controls to advisor devices regardless of physical location.

Would Your Firm Produce Its IT Security Documentation for an SEC Examiner Today?

Most Triangle financial firms cannot answer yes. CSP Inc. builds and maintains the compliance program that changes that answer.

The Structural Reasons Financial Services IT Is Different From General Business IT

• Regulatory Compliance Creates Mandatory Technical Controls With Enforcement Consequences
  SEC Regulation S-P requires safeguards for the protection of customer records and information. FINRA Rule 4370 requires written business continuity plans with documented recovery procedures. FINRA Rule 3110 requires supervisory systems that include oversight of technology-related risks. These obligations create specific IT requirements that are testable during examinations and enforceable through the regulatory action process. A financial firm’s IT environment is not evaluated against general best practices. It is evaluated against specific regulatory requirements that carry consequences for non-compliance.
• Client Financial Data Carries Fiduciary and Legal Weight Beyond Standard Privacy Law
  The information your clients share, their portfolio values, investment strategies, estate planning structures, tax situations, and account details, is protected by both the regulatory frameworks above and the professional trust obligation that defines the financial advisory relationship. A data breach at a financial firm does not just trigger notification obligations. It damages relationships that represent years of trust-building and, in the wealth management context, often spans multiple generations of family financial history. CSP Inc. builds financial firm IT with that weight understood.
• The Wire Fraud Attack Model Exploits Financial Workflow Specifically
  The reason wire fraud causes disproportionate losses in financial services is not that financial professionals are less careful than people in other industries. It is that the attack model is specifically designed to exploit the patterns of financial service delivery: the expected wire instruction arriving at the expected time from the expected party. Standard email security does not stop this because the attack does not rely on malware or obviously suspicious content. It relies on precise impersonation at the right moment. The defense requires DMARC and SPF authentication to prevent domain spoofing, BEC-specific detection logic in email filtering, staff training on out-of-band verification procedures, and documented internal controls that require phone verification before any wire executes based solely on an emailed instruction.

What CSP Inc. Builds and Maintains for Financial Services Firms in North Carolina

• Fully Managed IT With Compliance as the Operational Standard
  Our managed IT program for financial firms delivers unlimited help desk support, 24/7 NOC monitoring, patch management within the timeframes SEC and FINRA require, access control management with documented provisioning and deprovisioning records, and a dedicated Raleigh-based account manager who understands your firm type, your regulatory framework, and your team. Every element of our standard managed IT service is designed to meet both the operational needs and the documentation standards that financial examiners look for. Quarterly virtual CIO reviews align your technology roadmap with your regulatory obligations and your firm’s growth plans.
• Wire Fraud Prevention and Email Security Architecture
  Our security program for financial firms deploys DMARC, DKIM, and SPF authentication on your email domain to prevent spoofing, advanced email filtering with BEC detection logic calibrated for financial transaction patterns, multi-factor authentication enforcement on all accounts, and 24/7 SOC monitoring. Staff security awareness training uses scenarios specific to your firm type with wire fraud and impersonation scenarios drawn from actual attacks on similar North Carolina firms. We also help your firm document the internal verification procedures that create the final barrier against wire fraud, regardless of how convincing the impersonation is.
• SEC and FINRA Examination Documentation Program
  CSP Inc. builds and maintains the complete IT security documentation set that regulatory examiners look for: a written information security program tailored to your firm’s size and regulatory framework; role-based access control documentation with current provisioning records; audit logging configured to capture the activity detail examiners request; a documented incident response plan with defined roles, notification timelines, and evidence preservation procedures; and security awareness training records showing frequency, content, and staff completion. We maintain this documentation as an ongoing program updated to reflect changes in your environment and in regulatory guidance.
• Microsoft 365 Hardened to Financial Services Compliance Standards
  We reconfigure your Microsoft 365 environment from its default settings to the standards that financial services regulations require: Conditional Access policies that enforce device compliance and multi-factor authentication at every login, data loss prevention rules that block unauthorized transmission of client financial data, compliance email archiving with retention timelines aligned to your specific regulatory recordkeeping requirements, unified audit logging at the detail level examiners request, and encrypted communication for sensitive client correspondence. This is not a one-time configuration. We maintain it, update it as Microsoft releases configuration changes, and review it against any new regulatory guidance.
• Advisor and Staff Remote Access Security Architecture
  We design and implement secure remote access for your advisory and administrative teams using our mobility and security solutions that apply the same controls to every endpoint, regardless of physical location. Zero Trust architecture or managed VPN configurations, device compliance policies that prevent access from non-compliant endpoints, and session monitoring that logs access to client financial systems from any location. Your compliance team has confidence that advisor mobility does not create the regulatory exposure that unmanaged remote access creates.
• Regulatory Continuity and Business Resilience Program
  Our business continuity program for financial firms satisfies the FINRA Rule 4370 continuity planning requirement with a documented plan, tested recovery procedures, and recovery time objectives appropriate for financial operations. The plan addresses how your firm maintains client access capability, regulatory reporting obligations, and communication continuity during technology disruptions. It is formatted for regulatory review and updated annually to reflect changes in your environment.
• Financial Platform Integration and Software Support
  Our technology solutions for financial firms include hands-on support for Redtail, Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, Orion, Riskalyze, MoneyGuidePro, QuickBooks, and other platforms your team uses for client delivery and regulatory reporting. Integrations, licensing, performance troubleshooting, and vendor escalations are within our scope. Your advisors spend their time with clients. They do not spend it troubleshooting their own software.

From Compliance Gap to Examination Confidence: The CSP Inc. Financial Engagement

• Financial IT and Compliance Assessment
  Full review of current IT security posture, Microsoft 365 configuration, access control documentation, existing written security policies, backup readiness, and any prior examination findings related to IT.
• Compliance Gap Report and Remediation Plan
  Written gap report mapping current posture against SEC and FINRA requirements, with findings organized by regulatory risk level. Presented before any work begins.
• Compliance-Priority Onboarding
  We manage the transition with explicit attention to establishing your compliance documentation program from day one. Access controls, audit logging, and monitoring are activated before onboarding is complete.
• Ongoing Compliance Maintenance and Monitoring
  24/7 monitoring, patch management within regulatory timeframes, regular staff security awareness training, and ongoing maintenance of your written security documentation keep your firm examination-ready year-round.
• Pre-Examination Readiness Review
  When a regulatory examination is approaching, we conduct a specific pre-examination review of your IT documentation and controls, produce the technology documentation package for examiners, and address any gaps before the examination date.

Why Raleigh Financial Firms Trust CSP Inc. for IT and Compliance

CSP Inc. has been a trusted IT provider in North Carolina businesses for over twenty-five years from our Raleigh office. Our financial services practice is built around the understanding that an advisory firm’s IT environment is a regulatory asset as much as it is an operational one. We have seen the evolution of SEC and FINRA examination standards around technology, and our documentation and technical practices have evolved with them.

Our flat-rate pricing model gives your compliance team a predictable, auditable IT cost. Our documentation program gives your examiners the records they look for. Our 24/7 monitoring and BEC defense protect the client relationships your firm is built on. And our local Raleigh presence means the people managing your IT know the Triangle market and the financial services firms operating in it.

Visit our Why CSP page to read about what distinguishes CSP Inc. as a managed IT partner for regulated industries in North Carolina.

Frequently Asked Questions

Your Clients Trust You With Their Financial Future. CSP Inc. Protects What Makes That Trust Possible.

Examination-ready managed IT for financial services firms across Raleigh and NC. Wire fraud defense, M365 compliance hardening, and SEC documentation built in.