ORLANDO, Fla. -

US Equity Advantage (USEA) acknowledged that the current digital landscape is rampant with expanding cyber threats and cybercriminals getting smarter by the day.

As a result, the biweekly installment contract payment service recapped this week how it’s taking steps to enhance its cybersecurity protections.

In recent months, USEA said it has taken the following actions:

• Deployed a web application firewall (WAF) that enhances USEA’s traditional firewall security protection by decrypting HTTPS traffic, inspecting the data content and denying access to web servers when malicious activity is detected.

• Conducted a third-party security risk assessment to ensure that USEA’s robust cybersecurity posture is aligned with relevant security compliance frameworks and cyber security awareness infrastructures in accordance with government and industry standards.

• Implemented new-school cybersecurity education and awareness training software. Employees can either be the weakest link in a company’s cybersecurity enterprise or its last line of defense. USEA’s new training platform makes certain that security is always top of mind, using an approach that combines baseline testing using mock cyber-attacks, interactive web-based training, and continuous assessment through simulated phishing and other social engineering attacks to keep employees alert to emerging threats.

“The security of our customers’ financial data is mission critical for US Equity Advantage,” chief technology officer Jeff Saylor said in a news release. “Defending our company from today’s increasingly complex and high-risk cyber threats remains our top technology priority.”

“USEA is determined to meet its responsibility to both our dealership partners and AutoPayPlus customers by doing everything possible to defend and protect the company from cybersecurity threats now and in the future,” USEA chief executive officer Robert Steenbergh added in the news release.