Good afternoon —
We wrapped up HW Annual yesterday — what a blast!! I loved meeting our sponsors, speakers and attendees in person. If you weren't able to attend, you'll be able to access the sessions on-demand here soon.
During the keynote session, cybersecurity expert Selim Aissi outlined how sophisticated cyberattacks have become, particularly ransomware attacks. Criminal organizations with a hefty research and development budget have figured out how to make the most of their particular skill set and now offer Ransomware as a Service, splitting the resulting crypto haul with companies who do the actual attacking. Aissi noted that the documentation produced by engineers involved was "top-notch" and better than most of what he's seen in the industry.
It's disconcerting to see criminals developing so many efficiencies in their process, but Aissi was remarkably positive for someone who is privy to some serious company takedowns. "It's doable — you can protect your environment," he said. Most attacks could be prevented by simply encrypting data and training employees on phishing.
But Aissi also said he always operated as if the companies he worked at (Visa and Ellie Mae/ICE) could indeed be compromised, and planned accordingly. Having backups is crucial, and conducting drills to get systems and data back up quickly is the only way to be sure a company is prepared. The very first, most important step according to Aissi? Know where your assets are. If you don't know where your databases are, how can you protect them or bring them back online?
Aissi's session was filled with gold, but one warning really stood out: those in DC regulatory circles are very aware of the risks faced by financial companies holding consumers' personal information, and more stringent cybersecurity regulation is almost guaranteed. Just another reason to get your (data) house in order.
Read the whole story here. And stay extra safe —
Sarah Wheeler
HousingWire Editor in Chief
P.S. We host great speakers all the time, not just at our events. Tomorrow we're holding a webinar on The latest economic and policy trends facing mortgage servicers, featuring Frank Nothaft, Meg Burns, Pete Carroll, Mike Blair and Sapan Bafna. Register here.
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