Security Tips to Protect your Real Estate Agency

Technologies like cloud computing, data analytics, social and mobility are helping real estate agencies do more with less. Agencies now have the tools to reach new markets, better nurture prospects and run a more efficient operation. But these new opportunities come with risks. Not enough real estate agents today are thinking about IT security or the associated costs of a breach.

Your real estate data is important and your clients deserve to have their personal and financial information protected. Security breaches have severe costs, both financially and on your reputation. Follow these tips to help minimise your risk of suffering a damaging security breach.

 

Passwords

Despite repeated warnings, too many companies neglect to create secure passwords. Verizon’s 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 63 per cent of data breaches involved weak, default or stolen passwords.

Passwords should be a minimum of eight characters in length, should not repeat characters more than three times in a row and include upper, lower and special/punctuation characters. For example, 3v9#-YkJ. This principle should be applied on different passwords across all devices, real estate software and social media pages.

Update passwords every quarter and never use the same password twice. The biggest security threats comes from insiders rather than outside hackers (60 per cent according to IBM’s 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index). Replacing passwords regularly ensures bitter ex-employees or malicious insiders are less likely to compromise sensitive information and data.

 

Security Software

Real estate agencies should ensure security software is updated to lower the risk of digital threats. This includes everything from antivirus to encryption software. Encryption is currently the best way to protect sensitive data. It’s a simple process that involves locking a file and creating a password to access it.

Multi-factor authentication also increases security, such as a text message with a unique code to type in along with a password. If you store information on the cloud, you can get software that tracks IP addresses used to access files, notifying you if they are being accessed from an unfamiliar address. But no matter what software you have, it can’t guarantee protection.

 

Encourage a Culture of IT Security

Most attacks stem from human error (95 per cent according to IBM), meaning every agent needs to understand the importance of cyber security. Raise awareness about social engineering (the use of deception to manipulate people into divulging confidential information or data, e.g. email phishing scams) and how to avoid falling victim to it.

Educate and establish policies around properly storing, backing up and disposing of sensitive data. Managing access privileges to your agency’s sensitive information is another proactive security step. Each employee should only have access to what they need to fulfill their tasks.

 

Secure, Reputable Software

Real Estate Booking’s innovative software helps streamline business operations and improve the client journey while storing sensitive information on our highly secure database. By using secure, high quality real estate software and keeping up with the latest tips and best practice for IT security, you can minimise the risk of your data and sensitive information being compromised.