In the News Presented by Prairie Title
Commentary
by Frank Pellegrini, Prairie Title CEO
March 25, 2016
Cybersecurity is a buzzword, no doubt, but nothing is more important to
running a business today than making sure what that buzzword represents is
firmly implanted in your company’s day-to-day operations. As a business that is
based on information — providing title services has always been all about
information — securing that information is essential for us, and it has never
been more difficult. Throughout the real estate and lending industries we have grave
challenges in front of us: protecting not only internal information, but also
our clients’ information.
Our
businesses are subject to destructive viruses, attempts to steal data and even
demands for ransom to keep a cyber attack
from occurring. Ransomware is a relatively new term to me, but it is one of the
lurking dangers out there that is most pressing.Source: FFIEC
Late last year, the Federal
Financial Institutions Examination Council released a chilling statement about
cyber attacks including extortion: “Cyber attacks against financial institutions to
extort payment in return for the release of sensitive information are
increasing. Financial institutions should address this threat by conducting
ongoing cybersecurity risk assessments and monitoring of controls and
information systems.”
FFIEC Recommended
Actions:
·
Conduct ongoing information security
risk assessments and review business continuity plans.
·
Securely configure systems and
services.
·
Protect against unauthorized access.
·
Update information security awareness
and training programs to include ransomware attacks.
·
Perform security monitoring,
prevention, and risk mitigation.
·
Implement and regularly test controls around critical
systems.
I can’t tell you exactly what to do to protect your individual business, except always be vigilant and follow the recommendations of your industry association and respected cyber crime experts. There is no 100 percent guarantee that your business will not be a victim of cyber crime at some point, but taking precautions now to help prevent these crimes can help you protect your business.
Let’s keep the discussion going. Call or email
me, or write a comment below.
Other stories we’re following:
DS News: Title Pros Well Positioned to Face Challenges.
TRID’s First Five Months.
GSE Reform Moves Slowly, but moves.
Economic Conditions and Housing. .
