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A new security solution is available from CoreLogic to help reduce the risk of cyberthreats to property data held in multiple listing services databases, according to a Jan. 10 press release sent to Inman.
The company is calling the solution Clareity Assure, and it’s available to any MLS interested in augmenting how it protects listing, agent, brokerage and other industry data silos. Adaptive authentication is at the heart of the system, a form of user identification that applies at random one of many factors to verify the request for access, such as location, device status and even the individual’s recent online behavior. The user is monitored during their use, with the system operating under the auspices that a person is never fully trusted.
Clareity Assure also uses multi-factor authentication, a more common form of outward-facing security that links text or email codes, or a secondary question, to a person’s access credentials.
“Security is one of the top issues on the minds of every MLS leader today,” said Shaleen Khatod, executive of enterprise strategy and initiatives for CoreLogic, in the press release. “CoreLogic is re-writing the MLS defense book for safeguarding MLS systems and data against threats like ransomware and cyberattacks. This includes Clareity Assure adaptive authentication meticulously analyzing user behavior patterns. It can identify and stop bad actors while ensuring authorized users get the safe, secure and frictionless access they need.”
The new security parameters will be easy for existing CoreLogic customers to install, the company said. It’s already integrated into current installations and requires only a single sign-on (SSO) step to activate.
Any MLS can contact CoreLogic to install Clareity Assure.
Technology company Rapattoni suffered a ransomware attack in August 2023 that prevented multiple listing services on Rapattoni’s servers from adding new or editing existing listings, among other functionality supported by the company, essentially preventing real estate agents from marketing homes and drastically slowing buyer searches.
Without a clear outlet or access to a solution, agents nationwide took to social media and other outlets to describe what was happening.
“No one can add or remove listings, update statuses and things such as that,” Dave Woodson of Dream Team Agents told Inman in an email. “I’m telling my clients the truth — they were hacked, they don’t have their information, but they have all mine.”
Cybercriminals are going after a number of players in the real estate industry. Mortgage servicing company Mr. Cooper was hit hard in the fall, Inman reported.
A preliminary analysis revealed “that certain customer data was exposed, however, it will require additional analysis to validate this finding and quantify the scope and type of any such exposure,” Mr. Cooper said in a report to investors in November.
Then in late December, hackers hit First American, the nation’s largest title insurance company. The attack disrupted computer networks at more than 1,000 businesses and government entities. One day after Christmas, LoanCare publicized a data breach. And the new year brought a new attack, this time at loanDepot.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, loanDepot said it had “recently identified a cybersecurity incident” which it “promptly took steps to contain … including launching an investigation with assistance from leading cybersecurity experts, and began the process of notifying applicable regulators and law enforcement.”
Inman contributor and broker Leslie Guiley offered a 13-step plan for the industry should it happen again, emphasizing secure servers, complex passwords and locally secure backup versions of all data.
CoreLogic cited a cybersecurity report from insurance company Alliance Commercial that stated, “The number of ransomware victims globally increased 143 percent during the first quarter of 2023.” The study estimates the annual cost of ransomware to victims will soar to $265 billion annually by 2031.
Clareity Assure offers supporting services to its security functionality, such as public and direct communication tools, event alerts and updates, and risk monitoring and reporting, among other benefits.
