
Cybersecurity has been one of the most common buzzwords of the 21st century, as industries become increasingly reliant on technology for day-to-day operations. The real estate industry is no exception to this trend.
With the normalcy of online rent payments, wire transfers, and ACH transactions, servers filled with sensitive information relating to properties, mortgages, and tenants, batch accounting systems accessed through virtual private networks (“VPN”), and much more, cybersecurity should be a priority for every real estate entity. As if that alone were not enough, the Coronavirus pandemic has brought cybersecurity concerns to the forefront due to an increase in remote working. In addition, hackers are getting more difficult to stay away from with the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) in the form of “bots” that automatically search for new targets to test for weaknesses without the manual guidance of a hacker. Due to the use of AI, a web server will be detected by a hacker for the first time in an average of eight minutes after first being launched. That being said, there is no need to panic; hackers should be thought of as another form of business competition. With an understanding of the cybersecurity threats to your company and proper preparation through security programs, you can mitigate the risk of business shutdown due to a cybersecurity attack.
How and why do hackers attack real estate entity computer systems?
There are many ways that a hacker can attack a company’s computer systems, but the two most common are:
• Phishing – emails sent from hackers that appear to be from reputable sources and are designed to entice company personnel to reveal confidential information or click on attachments within the email that allow attackers to hack into the company’s systems.
• Ransomware – a malicious software program that prohibits access to computer systems until a “ransom,” typically a sum of money, is paid.