Inman

Ellie Mae moves to protect real estate loan data

Positive Networks, a provider of hosted, private computer networks and security services, today announced an agreement with Ellie Mae, a supplier of software and services for the mortgage industry, to provide services to Ellie Mae clients who need secure private network access for their remote users.

“As mortgage brokers and originators face greater time demands and geographic expansion, the ability to work beyond company walls is a critical factor in increasing efficiency and providing excellent customer service,” the companies stated in an announcement today.

Positive Networks specializes in virtual private networks (VPNs), which are secure, encrypted networks that use public networks such as the Internet. These private networks typically use data encryption, firewalls or other tools to help protect company data.

By using the company’s VPN services, called Positive Pro, loan officers, processors and brokers can have secure remote access to their brokerage’s network and update loan information in real-time over a secure VPN connection, the companies announced. “This secure solution is especially important when working with highly confidential client information such as salary, credit, and other loan information.”

Joe Tyrrell, Ellie Mae’s senior vice president, said in a statement, “The mortgage industry has experienced tremendous growth, and our clients face geographic expansion demands that require mortgage brokers to work from multiple locations, such as home or other branch offices.”

“Partnering with mortgage industry leaders like Ellie Mae will expand the availability of PositivePRO to mortgage institutions across the country and through our VPN solutions, allow greater productivity for loan officers, processors, and brokers,” said Positive Networks CEO Tim Sutton.

PositivePRO, in addition to providing remote access to a private network, also provides:

  • Antivirus protection to automatically scan for viruses at login and update antivirus definitions;
  • Personal firewall software to protect the system from intrusion by hackers who may want to use employee computers as gateways to the corporate network;
  • Patch management to help administrators deploy the critical patches and fixes that keep networks safe;
  • Authentication technology to verify the user’s identity;
  • Spyware protection to automatically deploy, scan and remove dangerous applications that can capture sensitive client and financial data.

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