Identillect Technologies (ID.V), a company specializing in cyber security, has signed a deal to protect real-estate firm NU World Title’s data from intrusion and theft using their proprietary Delivery Trust system.
Real Estate companies are absolutely ripe for exploitation by cyber-criminals, because they handle personally-identifiable, sensitive information such as social-security numbers (social insurance numbers in Canada), bank account information and credit/debit card numbers. All of which are targets for identity thieves and other criminals, which could be used to defraud an organization or its customers.
“We are pleased to integrate Delivery Trust email security for NU World Title to secure their communication needs. As wire fraud becomes one of the FBI’s most challenging crimes to combat, Identillect will continue to assist in the prevention of this form of cyber-crime,” said Todd Sexton, CEO of Identillect Technologies.
Identillect Technologies uses their Delivery Trust e-mail encryption service to protect their client’s critical information against cyber-security attacks. The Delivery Trust service is a multi-platform plug-in, which offers users complete control of their e-mails.
The company serves real-estate professionals throughout the U.S., where 5.96 million homes were sold in 2018. This provides a fertile market for cyber-criminals to ply their trade.
Business email compromise (BEC)
The days when hackers targeted only retailers are long gone, and real-estate companies represent the newest, juiciest low-hanging digital fruit for cybercriminals. These days any industry makes a viable target, especially if their digital security isn’t up to date.
Business e-mail compromise (BEC) is a spear phishing attack that tricks employees into wiring money to the attacker’s bank account. Billions of dollars of business losses can be attributed to BEC, according to the FBI. Real-estate companies are directly targeted in these attacks, and every participant in a real-estate transaction is a potential victim.
Approximately 27% of all real estate cybercrimes stem from wire fraud, which makes it the fastest growing real estate cybercrime. Losses from wire fraud had a significant uptick from 2016 to 2017, boosting from $19 million to $969 million. The FBI saw a 480% increase in wire fraud complaints in the previous year. Their 2018 numbers show $1.2 billion in fraud with the majority of real estate transactions happening over e-mail.
Delivery Trust leverages blockchain technology to provide https://e4njohordzs.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/tnw8sVO3j-2.pngistrative controls, single sign on capabilities (SSO) multi-factor authentication. Multi-factory reduces the ability and the probability that a user’s identity will be compromised, and provides advanced protections for both the sender and receiver of e-mails.
The U.S. Department of Justice released a warning about BEC called “Business E-Mail Compromise The 12 Billion Dollar Scam” that details how the scam works and provides statistical information.
It also includes ways to avoid getting scammed:
- Verify all requests for a change in payment type and/or location, as well as the recipient’s financial information;
- Be wary of any communication that is exclusively email based and establish a secondary means of communication for verification purposes; and
- Be mindful of phone conversations, as victims have reported receiving phone calls requesting personal information for verification purposes.
Be mindful of the most common keywords commonly found in BEC type scams.
Security opportunity
Identillect only handles a small segment of the cyber security market, which is anticipated to be worth USD$172 billion at a CAGR of 10%, according to marketwatch.com.
The major driving factors of cyber security market are:
- Increasing popularity of online data and digital data.
- Rising strictness of cyber security.
- Cloud security opening latest expansion opportunity.
- Rising security requirement in significant infrastructure and utilities.
- Tougher government policies.
- Development of social media.
The Delivery Trust product comes cheaply for both individual use and business practice, beginning at $5.95 for individual and scaling to $10 for all and any email protection needs.
—Joseph Morton
