Cyber security is a layering process. Like a good latte, each ingredient is necessary to bring the whole to perfection.
Years ago, it may have been sufficient to subscribe to anti-virus software alone, but in light of the growth in cybercrime targeting the real estate transaction, title companies have to up their cyber prevention game to meet the challenge.
The new standard of protection – which we have coined as MAPPE – addresses multiple areas of cybersecurity that need to be addressed in a title insurance agency. MAPPE stands for the five necessary elements of cybersecurity, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), anti-virus/anti-malware software, patch management software, phishing tools prevention, and endpoint detection and response (EDR) software.
Here’s a quick look at each of these layers of protection.
M – Multi-factor authentication
Even the most robust and careful password practices can be torpedoed by savvy hackers. MFA adds a more secure layer of protection because it involves sending codes to trusted devices that are unlikely to be in the hands of would-be hackers. Conversely, a thief who steals your phone is unlikely to know your passwords, so you are protected on that end as well.
If you are using MFA, make sure your staff is educated on what to do if they should lose the trusted device through loss or theft, since they will be unable to retrieve authentication codes in the short term, locking them out of accounts and applications.
A – Anti-virus/anti-malware
Malware is a collective term encompassing all kinds of malicious software that can invade your computer to gather information, destroy data or take programs hostage. This includes adware, ransomware, spyware, trojans and viruses.
Anti-virus software is a program that works in the background on your computer, scanning applications, files and programs looking for viruses and removing them before they can replicate. Anti-malware software scans your computer for adware and worms trying to hack into your device and then blocks or removes the malware before it can do harm.
P – Patch Management
Patch management is simply making sure that as new tactics emerge from cyber criminals, you are updating your software to address these vulnerabilities. Patch management software can streamline this process to make sure updates are acquired and installed across all sectors.
P – Phishing prevention
Phishing protection is one of the most challenging aspects of security because your most critical defense is training your staff to recognize phishing tactics and report them to your IT department. But there are also enterprise level tools such as anti-impersonation software, DNS authentication, email scanning and filtering, and anti-spam software that can provide some strong first-line defense to ensure phishing emails never make it to your employees’ desktops.
E – Endpoint detection and response
EDR solutions, a term coined by Gartner’s Anton Chuvakin, is defined by Gartner as “solutions that record and store endpoint-system-level behaviors, use various data analytics techniques to detect suspicious system behavior, provide contextual information, block malicious activity, and provide remediation suggestions to restore affected systems.”
A good EDR solution provides advanced threat detection so that problems can be mitigated with dispatch.
At Premier Data Services we can work with you to make sure you have the most robust protections locked and loaded in your IT solutions. Contact us today to learn more.