The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has implemented a new policy to block third-party messaging apps and texts from employees’ work mobile phones. This move is aimed at bringing the SEC’s practices closer to the standards it enforces for the industry. The decision to block disappearing-messaging apps will help the agency improve its own record-keeping and address security vulnerabilities after one of its social-media accounts was compromised earlier this year.
The SEC has imposed about $3 billion in fines on financial firms for failing to keep adequate records of work-related communications on mobile devices and apps such as Signal and WhatsApp. This scrutiny has led Wall Street to overhaul how employees communicate on business matters using mobile phones. In response, the SEC has examined policies covering its own staff’s communications on agency-issued phones and has restricted access to third-party messaging applications, as well as SMS and iMessage texts. This is done to lower the risk that their systems could be compromised and to enhance recordkeeping.
Read more at: finance.yahoo.com