Manifesto

Most therapists see a therapist.

The Seattle Seahawks have almost as many coaches as players.

And even the most seasoned climber doesn’t summit Everest without a Sherpa.

You know why?

Because having a guide helps.

If you don’t know the way, a guide is indispensable.

But even if you’re an expert or well on your way, a guide can offer assurance, show you a few shortcuts and make sure you don’t stray off course.

We are guides.

And we help people navigate something far more compelling than a trail or path or investment opportunities and the market.

We don’t start a relationship by offering hot stock tips and patent-pending investment strategies.

We sit down and get to know our clients.

Where are they in their lives?

What makes them happy and fulfilled?

What do they want from their future?

Once we know where they are and where they want to go, we can set out on a journey to get there together.

And hey, if we decide we want to change where we’re going or take a different route, that’s okay too.

We’re expert guides, so we can help even the most sophisticated investor, but we pride ourselves on making the complicated easy to understand for everyone.

So we don’t put our arms around a client’s portfolio and drag it over to our side of the table and tell them we’ll take it from here.

We work with our clients to make sure they understand and are invested in the decisions we make.

We don’t sell our clients products; we help them make choices.

About the kind of life they want to live.

About when and how they want to retire.

And what kind of legacy they want to leave behind for their families, their communities, and the world.

We are Summit.

And we know it’s a bit cheesy, but darn it, we believe this to be true.

We guide our clients towards their dreams.

 

Is the Cloud Secure Enough for Me?

Presented by Edward W. Grogan, IV

Have you ever used Dropbox or Box.com? How about web-based mail, like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, or Hotmail? If you consider that all of these are clouds—as are most Google apps—it’s hard to find an Internet user who doesn’t have some information in the cloud.

As cloud-based services become more prevalent, you might be wondering: Is the cloud secure enough for storing and sharing my own information?

 

Cloud security implications

The perks. Before we dive into the risks involved, let’s start with the perks of using a cloud:

  • Your information is accessible from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
  • You can easily share files with others.
  • You don’t have to worry about managing external hard drives, USB sticks, or other storage hardware.

 

The potential drawbacks. On the other hand, when you give your information to a cloud provider, you’re ceding a good deal of control of that information.

  • You may not know exactly where that information will be stored or how it will be secured.
  • The perk of easy accessibility from the Internet for you is also true for attackers. If a criminal were to guess your password, he or she could potentially gain access to your information.

In the end, we do have to trust something with our information. And many cloud providers try to stand out by practicing sound security. So, if you’ve made the risk-based decision to move your information to the cloud, be sure to look out for the security features described below.

 

Cloud provider security features to watch for

1) Multifactor authentication. This extra layer of protection can help make your login process much more secure. Multifactor authentication is a system that requires a second form of verification in addition to your password, such as:

  • A passcode that you receive on your smartphone
  • A digit that you press after receiving a phone call

This ensures that, even if your password were compromised, an attacker couldn’t access your account because he or she wouldn’t have that second piece of identifying information.

 

2) HTTPS connection. Check the beginning of the URL you visit to access your cloud.

  • If you see https://, all your information will be encrypted while it’s in transit between you and the cloud. An attacker trying to intercept your connection won’t be able to see the information.
  • If your cloud—or any website, for that matter—begins with http://, keep in mind that any information you transmit could potentially be compromised. In this situation, we’d strongly recommend finding an alternative.

 

3) Encryption at rest. Not only should your information be encrypted in transit (https), but it should also be encrypted at rest—while it’s sitting in the cloud. That way, if anyone were to get access to that information, he or she would still need your password in order to make any sense of it. (Encrypted information appears unreadable when it hasn’t been decrypted by its encryption key/password.)

 

4) File version history. It’s always possible that something can go awry when syncing or making changes to files in the cloud. A service with versioning allows you to dig back into the various revisions of a file over time and choose to restore an older one if needed. This can be a life-saver in terms of protecting your information, especially in cases where information is accidentally erased or files are corrupted.

 

The forecast is looking cloudy . . .

Years ago, the idea of entrusting your information to someone far, far away in a place you couldn’t even see would’ve sounded ridiculous. But today, many Internet users are migrating their information and services to the cloud for cost savings, ease of use, and security benefits.

In the end, careful research can make all the difference. Deciding which service to trust is the most important part of the cloud that’s in your control.