With the magnitude of security and data breach cases highlighted regularly in the media, most executives of real estate companies are aware that they will likely become a victim of a cyberattack.

The First National Real Estate group suffered a data breach in January 2019 when their recruiting company, Sales Inventory Profile, failed to secure the resumes and cover letters of over 6,000 job applicants.  As these breaches are becoming more prevalent, many companies have already taken precautions to safeguard their transactions, data and privacy from malicious attackers.

However, with the number of data breaches growing, those precautions may not be enough to secure real estate companies against ransomware, malware and phishing attacks. What is even more concerning, is the executives’ confidence in their companies’ preparation, which may be blinding them to glaring vulnerabilities.

Real Estate organisations have become more of a target for hackers, phishers and other malicious attackers who are looking to obtain valuable information and make a profit at the expense of these organisations. Executives may believe that they are completely secure and have a strong defence line, howevercybersecurity maintaining cybersecurity is a complex task. In addition to this, an organisation’s IT teams may also not be giving their executives a full enough picture of the landscape of cyber threats in their industry.

Working with an external advisor can help organisations make the most of their cybersecurity tools and their reporting capabilities. Most security tools are only useful with the default out-of-the-box (OOTB) configurations and often require extensive tailoring to each organisation. For example, the security configurations for Microsoft’s Office 365 solution can be significantly strengthened by implementing the controls recommended by the Centre for Internet Security (CIS). A cybersecurity consultant can validate that an organisation has the critical elements of an effective security program in place. 

Do you need assistance understanding and getting the full value from your cyber security toolset? Contact Darren Booth for advice.

This article was adapted from an article published on the RSM US website on 27 June 2019.