By John Salustri
鈥淒on鈥檛 look now, but someone鈥檚 watching,鈥� writes 乐竞体育赛事直播 President Don Wilkerson in his . He鈥檚 talking about cyberhackers, an invisible ilk of criminals that, he says, costs businesses collectively some $6 trillion a year. What鈥檚 worse, he says, is that 鈥淭here are few protections against their intrusions that they can鈥檛 breach.鈥�
And worst of all, he goes on, quoting Gregory Stein, vice chair of the data privacy and information security group at the law firm Ulmer & Berne LLP, in another NREI column: 鈥淯nlike for banks and hospitals, there鈥檚 no federal law requiring real estate businesses to implement security programs to protect information and systems. That鈥檚 led to real estate businesses having vulnerable systems and being the focus of potential attacks. Criminals are using a wide variety of .鈥�
鈥淭he way I see it,鈥� Wilkerson writes, 鈥渢here are two problems with implementing a bulletproof cybersecurity system. First is cost and second is understanding. Figures I鈥檝e seen put the first-year cost of network security software at around $1,400 鈥� not bad, but not surprisingly, that鈥檚 for a basic, no-frills package, adequate for only the smallest of organizations. Obviously, prices balloon up from there. And those prices don鈥檛 include the costs 鈥� much higher still 鈥� of a person to navigate that system and respond to new hacker threats, preferably before they appear.
鈥淲hich brings us to the second issue 鈥� understanding,鈥� he continues. 鈥淲e鈥檙e property management people. Even if there鈥檚 an inclination to solve the issue ourselves, it is best left at the doorstep of a professional, be it in-house IT expertise or a consultant.鈥�
Jeremy Rasmussen, chief technology officer at Abacode, spoke on the subject of cybersecurity at 乐竞体育赛事直播鈥檚 Hollywood, Fla., Global Summit, and Wilkerson references some of his advice in his NREI column.聽 You can access Rasmussen鈥檚 takeaways here. Most important of the advice he offers is that, 鈥渢he entire organization be involved.鈥�
But, as Wilkerson points out, 乐竞体育赛事直播 is also tackling the issue head-on with 鈥渙ur recently formed Technology Advisory Board, whose mission is multifold: to determine 乐竞体育赛事直播鈥檚 strategy for addressing pertinent technology issues, including data security and cybersecurity; to identify and recommend critical topics and subject-matter experts for editorial content, research and knowledge products, such as webinars, courses and seminars, white papers, JPM articles, conference sessions and blog entries; and to provide guidance in identifying and implementing technology projects, collaborations and partnerships.鈥�
In all, the 乐竞体育赛事直播 president compares cyberhackers to 鈥渁 virulent strain of virus that can grow beyond our attempts at immunity. As Jeremy Rasmussen indicated, vigilance is a keyword in the prevention of cyber loss, and everyone on the team has to get involved. Only through such vigilance can we ensure some degree of protection.鈥�
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About the Author
John Salustri is editor-in-chief of Salustri Content Solutions, Inc., a consultancy focused on enhancing the web and print content of clients around the nation. He is a regular contributor to JPM Magazine and a frequent blogger for 乐竞体育赛事直播. Prior to launching SCS, John was founding editor of GlobeSt.com, the industry鈥檚 premier real estate news website, where he managed the daily output of 25 international reporters, and prior to that, he was editor of Real Estate Forum Magazine. John is a four-time winner of the National Association of Real Estate Editors鈥� Award for Excellence in Journalism.