John Ianarelli directly addresses camera:  You may have heard of the Business Email Compromise, a common cybercrime affecting the real estate industry. The crime involves hacking into a real estate agent's email account and sending a buyer false wiring instructions. Believing the email to be legitimate, the buyer makes the financial transfer, which results in the purchase money disappearing into the cybercriminal's hands. Unfortunately, the real estate agent is ultimately responsible for the loss because of the failure to prevent the initial computer hack. That means the agent has to refund the buyer's money and has suffered a blow to their business and brand reputation. 

I'm John Iannarelli, a retired FBI special agent and expert on cyber and counterintelligence investigations. Let's take five minutes to learn about ways you can protect yourself and your clients from cybercrime.

The Business Email Compromise is just one of many ways cybercriminals can take advantage of those in real estate. Likewise, real estate is a desirable cyber target to the cybercriminal because every business transaction involves money and the sensitive personal information of the buyer and seller. The cybercriminal can be used to commit more crimes and cause further victimization. Fortunately, as an FBI Special Agent (Ret.) and cybersecurity expert, I know the precautions those in real estate can take to avoid becoming a victim.

In the U.S., cybercrime results in approximately $3.5 billion in losses annually. These losses are all the more frustrating because cybercriminals are hard to identify and even more difficult to apprehend, frequently operating on the Internet's dark web and in faraway foreign lands where U.S. law enforcement has no jurisdiction. Real estate practitioners need to take the necessary steps to protect their business and clients.

In the Business Email Compromise, or whenever sending wiring instructions, have policies requiring clients to confirm the transfer information verbally. This way, even if a hack occurs and false wiring instructions are sent, the client's verbal confirmation with the real estate agent will prevent a loss from happening.  

Good cybersecurity requires strong passwords. Because computer users often use the same password for multiple accounts and platforms, hackers can access business accounts by using passwords stolen from other computer hacks. Therefore, having strong and unique passwords for every separate computer account should be the standard practiced.  

Additionally, continuing cyber education is necessary for all employees. Brokers and managers should make efforts to regularly advise employees of the latest cyber dangers and encourage their staff to report anything they encounter that appears suspicious.

Also, real estate companies should leverage the skills of their IT professionals, whose priority is to ensure the business website and email is functioning and regularly check the network and backup data. These steps can avert disaster should the business be threatened by a ransomware attack, where a cyber thief locks up your network and threatens to destroy all of your information unless the broker pays the ransom.

Finally, encryption can make sensitive information inaccessible if compromised during a computer hack. Likewise, it's important to know who from your local police or FBI to contact before the event should a cybercrime occur. The FBI sponsors InfraGard, a public-private alliance, which provides member law enforcement contacts and regular updates advising of the latest cyber threats.

Hackers know that if successful, the cyber compromise of a real estate business will result in the criminal obtaining both money and sensitive information. Because of this, cybercriminals will continue to target the real estate industry. Fortunately, by taking some simple precautions, most of the threats can be minimized or eliminated, resulting in protecting your business, your brand, and, most importantly, your clients.