Cyberawareness

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) created a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan template to help member companies develop a strategy to prepare for, identify, respond and recover from cybersecurity incidents.

The template is developed based on information from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which has established guidelines to help companies protect themselves against cyber threats.

Read on for more.

Chicago-based Landtrust Title Services implemented web-based cybersecurity service ClosingLock as an added measure to prevent real estate wire fraud.

ClosingLock allows buyers, sellers and real estate professionals to safely access wire transfer information across a secure online portal with dual factor authentication, which reduces the threat of cybertheft and of transaction details being intercepted.

Read on for more.

 

SafeWire has launched a new podcast called “The Wire.” In each episode, CEO Chris Sauerzopf and Vice President of Sales Nicole Evans take a deep dive into the latest cybersecurity and wire fraud incidents hitting the title industry.

Their goal is to empower title companies to educate their clients and real estate business partners about cybercrime prevention.

Read on for more about the podcast.

In light of the recent Cloudstar ransomware attack, the Koogler Group is offering a free industry education bulletin on cyber awareness training.

Read on for more about the special edition.

Cloudstar is still working to get its cloud-hosting system back online after a July 16 ransomware attack. The company says it’s “too early to speculate” on whether there was a data breach.

Industry cybersecurity experts explain what happens during such attacks, what the far-reaching consequences might be and how title companies can protect themselves and their customers.

Read on for more.

When a South Florida single mother lost her $64,000 down payment on a new home to wire fraud, Independence Title CEO Kevin Tacher offered his assistance, even though his company was not involved in the closing.

Through help from him and generous GoFundMe donors, the woman was able to recover the money and close on the home.

Read on for more from Tacher about how title companies can protect themselves and their clients from such scams.

SoftPro’s new integration with CertifID targets wire fraud prevention. The integration is backed by up to $1 million in direct insurance coverage on every wire transfer.

Read on for more details.

Cybercriminals tried to scam title insurance employees into wiring funds to a fraudulent account in a third of all real estate and mortgage transactions, according to the results of the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) 2021 Wire Fraud and Cyber Crime Survey.

However, the scams were successful in only a little over 8 percent of the attempts, according to the survey, indicating education and training are having a positive effect.

Read on for more from the survey.

Stewart Information Service Corp. has integrated CertifID into its AIM+ title and escrow production system to protect users from wire fraud.

The new integration helps keep real estate transactions safe by protecting wire transfers up to $1 million, according to Stewart Agency Services Group President Tara Smith.

Read on for more details about the application.

SafeWire’s new Real Estate Wire Fraud Tracker plots wire fraud reports on an interactive map, creating a visual representation of how widespread the problem is.

SafeWire co-founder and CEO Chris Sauerzopf said that title agents can use the tracker as a tool to help them educate others in the industry about the importance of securing online transactions.

Read on for more from Sauerzopf about the wire fraud prevention tool.