Data security: Are you secure?
Your PC or smartphone is likely loaded with sensitive personal and financial data about clients and business activity. But have you ever considered what would happen if someone else got their hands on that information?
It’s a question many real estate professionals never consider until it’s too late. But how would you like to explain how some hacker stole your buyer or seller’s identity using information from forms or contracts you kept on your PC?
A proactive approach can minimize such risks. And the good news about computer security is there are plenty of easily implemented solutions.
While many real estate professionals have taken steps to protect their data assets against the most obvious threats, many aren’t doing near enough to protect themselves and their clients. The 2007 REALTOR® Technology Survey conducted by the Center for REALTOR® Technology found that 82 percent of real estate professionals use anti-virus protection, and 80 percent run anti-spyware software. However, only 38 percent of respondents were aware of any written security guidelines from their companies, and less than half — 43 percent — knew of specific standards for protecting the privacy of clients and consumers.
Until you’ve identified all potential risks and the appropriate responses, never assume there’s nothing to worry about. Don’t let naiveté be your defense.
Here are some key items to consider when forming a security plan:
1. Assess your vulnerabilities. Effective security begins with an assessment of vulnerabilities. The strategy may entail such simple steps as defining and implementing best practices; activating features already available on your hardware or software; a cable lock or alarm for your laptop while out in the field; or the purchase and installation of security software.
2. Avoid careless, costly mistakes. Have you ever left a laptop in your car or turned away for a minute while your laptop sat on a table or a chair? An unattended laptop — even for a split second — can be scooped up and resold. Even if it’s not stolen, all it takes is a few minutes for a data thief to plug a flash drive into the USB port and copy your files. You can also put yourself at risk by using an unsecured Wi-Fi network at home or the office. This can be an open invitation to a thief to use your broadband and poke around for valuable resources on the server or computers connected to it.
3. Evaluate your operating system. Windows XP and Vista and Apple OS X offer a range of settings for safer computing already built-in to the system. Even if you rely on default modes, familiarize yourself with these features and what they do. The simple log-in password is only the first in several available lines of defense.
4. Protect yourself online. When you’re conducting or transmitting work online, you can be at greatest risk of a hacker or a virus that destroys your information. Several vendors specialize in this ever-evolving class of software and services. Not only are their solutions cost effective — $79.95 or less for a year’s worth of protection — they are also continually updated. Almost as soon as a new form of malware appears — viruses, worms, trojan horses, etc. — they have a remedy.
5. Take responsibility. The more you rely on computers and networks, the greater the need for security. Accept this as your responsibility, whether you are the broker with a team of associates or the independent working from a home office. And don’t wait to think about it until it's too late.
Four Areas Where You’re Most at Risk
1.On the computer
Risk: An unattended computer, in any environment, is always at risk. In minutes, a data thief can plug in a USB flash drive, copy files, and walk away with a career’s worth of information. Then there’s the danger of theft, especially with laptops.
Solutions: Have a log-in password and password authentication to copy files or change system settings; a plug-in USB fingerprint reader; security cables; or subscription to a PC recovery service.
2. Online
Risk: All types of threats abound on the Web. Hackers want into your computer and network and are very creative in their efforts to wreak havoc.
Solutions: A firewall and a security software suite, always on, and automatically updated. Also, take common sense steps. For example, don’t launch unexpected links or attachments; ignore requests for personal information or account numbers that come to you via e-mail; only download files from trusted sites; and check a site’s privacy policies before completing online forms.
3. On a network
Risk: Wi-Fi hotspots are a great convenience, but also an invitation to prying eyes. If unauthorized users can connect to the network, they can steal files, corrupt data, install spyware.
Solutions: A network firewall; log-on passwords; and password-protected access to authorized users and devices. Also, if you’re working with sensitive client data in public places, get a privacy filter.
4. Talking on a cell phone
Risk: When you’re in public talking on a cell phone, you’re broadcasting one end of a conversation to anyone within earshot.
Solution: Use discretion when discussing business with clients; move to a more private space and speak in softer tones. And remember, smart phones are as much phones as they are mini computers. So the same security dangers for PCs, holds true for smart phones too. Learn about and activate built-in security features to your smart phone, and also subscribe to its security suite.
Protect Yourself: Back Up Your Data
One of the most reliable forms of protection against loss or corrupted data, stolen or damaged hardware: A timely back-up of your files.
You’ve always been told to back-up your work — but how good are you about actually doing it regularly?
Well, now you don’t have to. While in the past, this once required you taking the initiative, today’s back-up solutions automate that process, operating in the background while you work, and copying data at predetermined intervals set by you.
Here are some data back-up options:
It’s a question many real estate professionals never consider until it’s too late. But how would you like to explain how some hacker stole your buyer or seller’s identity using information from forms or contracts you kept on your PC?
A proactive approach can minimize such risks. And the good news about computer security is there are plenty of easily implemented solutions.
While many real estate professionals have taken steps to protect their data assets against the most obvious threats, many aren’t doing near enough to protect themselves and their clients. The 2007 REALTOR® Technology Survey conducted by the Center for REALTOR® Technology found that 82 percent of real estate professionals use anti-virus protection, and 80 percent run anti-spyware software. However, only 38 percent of respondents were aware of any written security guidelines from their companies, and less than half — 43 percent — knew of specific standards for protecting the privacy of clients and consumers.
Until you’ve identified all potential risks and the appropriate responses, never assume there’s nothing to worry about. Don’t let naiveté be your defense.
Here are some key items to consider when forming a security plan:
1. Assess your vulnerabilities. Effective security begins with an assessment of vulnerabilities. The strategy may entail such simple steps as defining and implementing best practices; activating features already available on your hardware or software; a cable lock or alarm for your laptop while out in the field; or the purchase and installation of security software.
2. Avoid careless, costly mistakes. Have you ever left a laptop in your car or turned away for a minute while your laptop sat on a table or a chair? An unattended laptop — even for a split second — can be scooped up and resold. Even if it’s not stolen, all it takes is a few minutes for a data thief to plug a flash drive into the USB port and copy your files. You can also put yourself at risk by using an unsecured Wi-Fi network at home or the office. This can be an open invitation to a thief to use your broadband and poke around for valuable resources on the server or computers connected to it.
3. Evaluate your operating system. Windows XP and Vista and Apple OS X offer a range of settings for safer computing already built-in to the system. Even if you rely on default modes, familiarize yourself with these features and what they do. The simple log-in password is only the first in several available lines of defense.
4. Protect yourself online. When you’re conducting or transmitting work online, you can be at greatest risk of a hacker or a virus that destroys your information. Several vendors specialize in this ever-evolving class of software and services. Not only are their solutions cost effective — $79.95 or less for a year’s worth of protection — they are also continually updated. Almost as soon as a new form of malware appears — viruses, worms, trojan horses, etc. — they have a remedy.
5. Take responsibility. The more you rely on computers and networks, the greater the need for security. Accept this as your responsibility, whether you are the broker with a team of associates or the independent working from a home office. And don’t wait to think about it until it's too late.
Four Areas Where You’re Most at Risk
1.On the computer
Risk: An unattended computer, in any environment, is always at risk. In minutes, a data thief can plug in a USB flash drive, copy files, and walk away with a career’s worth of information. Then there’s the danger of theft, especially with laptops.
Solutions: Have a log-in password and password authentication to copy files or change system settings; a plug-in USB fingerprint reader; security cables; or subscription to a PC recovery service.
2. Online
Risk: All types of threats abound on the Web. Hackers want into your computer and network and are very creative in their efforts to wreak havoc.
Solutions: A firewall and a security software suite, always on, and automatically updated. Also, take common sense steps. For example, don’t launch unexpected links or attachments; ignore requests for personal information or account numbers that come to you via e-mail; only download files from trusted sites; and check a site’s privacy policies before completing online forms.
3. On a network
Risk: Wi-Fi hotspots are a great convenience, but also an invitation to prying eyes. If unauthorized users can connect to the network, they can steal files, corrupt data, install spyware.
Solutions: A network firewall; log-on passwords; and password-protected access to authorized users and devices. Also, if you’re working with sensitive client data in public places, get a privacy filter.
4. Talking on a cell phone
Risk: When you’re in public talking on a cell phone, you’re broadcasting one end of a conversation to anyone within earshot.
Solution: Use discretion when discussing business with clients; move to a more private space and speak in softer tones. And remember, smart phones are as much phones as they are mini computers. So the same security dangers for PCs, holds true for smart phones too. Learn about and activate built-in security features to your smart phone, and also subscribe to its security suite.
Protect Yourself: Back Up Your Data
One of the most reliable forms of protection against loss or corrupted data, stolen or damaged hardware: A timely back-up of your files.
You’ve always been told to back-up your work — but how good are you about actually doing it regularly?
Well, now you don’t have to. While in the past, this once required you taking the initiative, today’s back-up solutions automate that process, operating in the background while you work, and copying data at predetermined intervals set by you.
Here are some data back-up options:
- External hard drives: Most external drives now come bundled with back-up software that can be set to automatically copy your files. Choices are as vast and varied as the range of drives, from USB flash drives to multi-gig portable drives to desktop peripherals with as much as a terabyte of storage space.
- Operating systems: The latest versions of the computer operating systems include features to make backing up files as painless as possible. Vista’s Windows Back-up and Restore gives users of most versions of Vista the tools for automated or scheduled back-ups to a disk or location selected by the user. Time Machine, a feature of Apple’s OS X Leopard edition, maintains an incremental copy of all files and changes made to them, as you work.
- Web based back-up services: These solutions for remote back-up of computer data online are becoming increasingly popular, even bundled with new hardware. Dell’s DataSafe Online BackUp solution lets you select which files you want backed-up, and then schedule how often the file copies are updated. HP’s Upline service offers individual and business plans to copy or retrieve files wherever they connect a computer to the Web.
