October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computers, servers, mobile devices, networks, and data from malicious attacks. Common types of cyber threats include the following: 

• Malware – Malicious software variants such as worms, viruses, trojans, and spyware that provide unauthorized access to a computer or server. 
• Ransomware – A type of malware that encrypts files, data, or systems and threatens to destroy the data or make it public unless a ransom is paid.  
• Phishing/ Social Engineering – Tricks users into providing their own credentials or information. 
• Insider Threats – Current or former employees, business partners, or anyone who has had access to systems or networks can be considered an insider threat. 
• Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks – A DDoS attack attempts to crash a server, website, or network by overloading it with traffic from multiple coordinated systems. 
• Man-in-the-middle attacks – Man-in-the-middle is an eavesdropping attack, where a criminal intercepts and relays messages between two parties to steal data.  

As a company, we have implemented security measures over the last few years to combat these threats. Protecting our clients’ information is a top priority at Investors Realty. We have dedicated our time and attention to training our employees on cybersecurity to recognize potential threats.  

Examples of our cybersecurity efforts include: Multifactor authentication for our Microsoft accounts and remote access, enhanced email filtering tools, email phishing tests with training, upgraded antivirus, advanced web filtering, policies to automatically lock computers when users are away, and automatic software updates.  These are just a few ways we take measures to ensure our information and data is protected.