Financial infrastructure depends on trust. Recent large-scale security incidents across the industry are a reminder that firms must protect against threats spanning people, technology, vendors, and operational processes. While Alpaca was not affected by these incidents, we recognize that when another firm in fintech or crypto is in the headlines, partners and developers rightly ask: What about Alpaca?
System security and data protection is built into how we operate as a regulated brokerage infrastructure provider every day. Our approach combines independent assurance, layered technical controls, employee training, third-party oversight, continuous monitoring, and practiced incident response. This blog outlines how we operate to keep our partners, end users, and developers protected.
Understanding Today’s Threat Landscape: Why Security and Customer Protection Matters
Attackers target staff, exploit support workflows, compromise vendor environments, and steal credentials. The common thread in recent headlines is a combination of technical failure and human error, including phishing, impersonation, credential leaks, and data handed over because a request looked official.
Firms across banking, brokerage, payments, and crypto face an increasingly complex set of concurrent risks. Recent industry events highlight a wide spectrum of potential threats, ranging from social engineering and impersonation, such as bad actors posing as regulators, vendors, executives, or law enforcement, as well as third-party and supply-chain compromises where a vendor breach exposes downstream customer data. Custody and wallet infrastructure remain frequent targets for unauthorized transfers, alongside credential and session theft via phishing, MFA fatigue, and stolen API keys.
At the application layer, firms can encounter API abuse stemming from software bugs, misconfigurations, or excessive production access. Meanwhile, end users may face account takeover, authorized payment fraud, brand impersonation, and customer-facing scams outside a firm’s immediate perimeter. Internally, organizations must contend with insider or privileged-access misuse without proper oversight, as well as destructive ransomware attacks that threaten daily operations and backups.
There is no single control that protects against every scenario. That’s why we’ve designed layered defenses at Alpaca, focusing on strong identity, least-privilege access, testing, monitoring, vendor diligence, and practiced incident response.
We operate with the assumption that our credentials will be targeted, which is why we take proactive security measures to protect our infrastructure, partners, and users. This includes being prepared to detect, contain, and respond quickly.
Core Pillars of Alpaca’s Security Architecture
Alpaca’s security program is purpose-built to support regulated brokerage operations and global enterprise partners. Rather than relying on static checks, our foundation rests on several integrated controls.
First, we maintain rigorous independent assurance through SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 programs, undergoing annual audits focused on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Detailed compliance reports and certifications are accessible via our Trust Center.
Second, our cloud infrastructure on Google Cloud Platform employs layered network defenses, end-to-end encryption in transit and at rest, and strict access controls to isolate production systems.
Third, we enforce Zero Trust workforce access, continuously verifying every user and device before granting access to sensitive applications rather than relying solely on perimeter security.
Finally, our Security Operations Center provides continuous 24/7 monitoring to detect and intercept suspicious activity early across workforce identities and core production workflows.
For a full overview of our security architecture, see Security at Alpaca.
Data Privacy and Regulatory Alignment
Protecting systems and protecting personal data are related, but not the same. Security focuses on preventing unauthorized access and responding to incidents. Privacy focuses on collecting and using personal information lawfully, retaining it only as long as necessary, and providing individuals with appropriate choices and rights under applicable law.
Alpaca’s privacy architecture aligns directly with our global brokerage and partner footprint across four main areas: governance and assurance, global regulatory alignment, data handling, and people and vendor oversight.
To ensure robust governance and assurance, our SOC 2 Type II program incorporates the Privacy trust services criteria alongside Security, Confidentiality, Availability, and Processing Integrity, complemented by ISO 27001 certification.
For global regulatory alignment, we use GDPR as a core baseline and extend our framework to meet regional requirements across US financial privacy standards, US state privacy laws, Canadian requirements, and Asia-Pacific frameworks. Cross-border transfers rely on approved mechanisms like Standard Contractual Clauses and, where applicable, participation in the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and UK ICO.
Regarding data handling, we classify information by sensitivity, enforce encryption in transit and at rest for confidential assets, and restrict access through role-based permissions.
Lastly, our people and vendor oversight ensures all personnel receive data protection training while third-party service providers undergo continuous risk assessments.
Human-Centric Security and Identity Protection
Because most critical security incidents stem from compromised credentials or targeted social engineering, we focus heavily on workforce resiliency. Mandatory security awareness training covers emerging threats like AI-driven fraud and deepfakes, complemented by ongoing phishing exercises, internal threat-sharing, and monthly guidance updates.
To enforce stronger authentication, multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for all personnel and we are expanding phishing-resistant MFA across the company. Additionally, advanced email and impersonation defenses continuously monitor and filter external threats targeting our brand and workforce.
Proactive Defense Testing and Vulnerability Research
Rather than relying solely on static compliance checklists, we continuously stress-test our infrastructure. We perform penetration testing and red teaming exercises in critical environments, utilizing automated and AI-driven security scanning to identify potential vulnerabilities early. We also run a managed bug bounty program for vetted security researchers to report issues responsibly (contact [email protected] for access), supported by disciplined vulnerability remediation workflows tied directly to system owners.
Incident Response and Escalation Readiness
When something goes wrong, speed, coordination, and clarity are critical. Alpaca maintains documented incident response procedures alongside regular tabletop exercises with executive leadership and operational leads to ensure escalation paths are practiced and well-rehearsed. Our regulatory and incident notification framework enables rapid evaluation of disclosure obligations in coordination with Legal and Compliance teams. Additionally, specialized incident playbooks clearly distinguish Alpaca-controlled infrastructure from vendor-side events to deliver transparent, accurate information to partners during broader industry incidents.
How We Empower Enterprise Partners
Partners choose Alpaca to gain institutional-grade brokerage controls without having to build and secure complex infrastructure from scratch. We support enterprise integrations through comprehensive documentation, security questionnaires, and technical architecture reviews via our Trust Center.
To secure API integrations, we implement OAuth and fine-grained, scoped access controls so end users never need to expose long-lived credentials to third-party applications. Furthermore, our dedicated Customer Success and Support teams provide clear, responsive escalation channels whenever technical or operational questions arise.
Developers should treat API keys like production credentials. Our recent guide about API key security best practices covers paper vs live hosts, secret storage, and revocation if a key is exposed.
Key Priorities for Alpaca’s Security Roadmap
We are investing in the areas that matter most when the industry is under pressure: helping our people recognize social engineering and AI-enabled fraud, strengthening workforce authentication, and ensuring our incident and partner-notification practices are clear before they are needed. Additionally, we will continue to publish updates on our Trust Center and Security pages with updates, controls, and resources.
We monitor ecosystem events for impact to our partners and vendors, separate from our own control testing. If an incident ever affected Alpaca or a service we rely on in a way that mattered to you, we would communicate through the channels your agreement defines, in coordination with Legal and Compliance.
Questions? Contact your Alpaca Customer Success Manager or [email protected].
Security Researchers: [email protected].
Further information can be found here: Trust Center |Security at Alpaca
Securities brokerage services are provided by Alpaca Securities LLC (dba "Alpaca Clearing"), member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Technology and services are offered by AlpacaDB, Inc.
Cryptocurrency services are made available by Alpaca Crypto LLC ("Alpaca Crypto"), a FinCEN registered money services business (NMLS # 2160858), and a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc. Alpaca Crypto is not a member of SIPC or FINRA. Cryptocurrencies are not stocks and your cryptocurrency investments are not protected by either FDIC or SIPC. Please see the Disclosure Library for more information.
This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or cryptocurrencies or open a brokerage account or cryptocurrency account in any jurisdiction where Alpaca Securities or Alpaca Crypto, respectively, are not registered or licensed, as applicable.
