Like all other sectors in the global economy, the real estate and property management sector has seen accelerated digital transformation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and movement restrictions imposed as a result by governments throughout the world.
Examples of this digital transformation include the expanded use of the Internet and mobile apps to search for properties on the consumer end and to manage the properties on the business end; virtual tours using augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) tools; Building Information Modelling/Management and digital twins that make it easier to design, construct, and manage buildings; the use of drones for marketing and inspection purposes; and Internet of Things (IoT) devices and smart building technologies, amongst others.
With this increasing digitisation of a traditionally paper-based industry comes a correspondingly complex cybersecurity landscape. In the UK, for instance, 86% of real estate professionals are concerned about cyber-attacks, with breaches going undetected for an average of 206 days. Phishing and business email compromise attacks have become increasingly sophisticated.
Given the importance of cybersecurity to the property sector, there is a pressing need for both the endpoints and the backend systems to be protected by cybersecurity specialists, which real estate employees are not, for the most part. In Malaysia, one such specialist in Celcom, one of the oldest mobile telecommunications companies in the country.
For backend systems, Celcom offers a range of services via its strategic partnership with Telefónica Tech, which is a member of the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG). Celcom’s Cyber Threat solutions cover both Digital Risk Protection (DRP) and Celcom Vulnerability Risk Management (VRM), providing enterprises with reliable, world-class security.
DRP uses technology, tools, and expertise, to monitor data sources and identify threats against an organisation’s digital footprint. It covers the entire lifecycle of cyber threats, starting with a 24/7 team that monitors the open web, deep web, and dark web, in search of references and mentions to organisational assets. Celcom’s platform analyses these mentions to provide its enterprise customers with actionable alerts in real-time, as well as browser and network blocking services.
VRM identifies and remediates threats in enterprise systems through a combination of 24×7 automated scanning with both persistent as well as manual penetration testing by experts. After a Local Analyst plans and executes a scan, the results are analysed to determine the severity of the threat and the remediation required. This is followed by 24/7 notification and reporting via the Customer Portal.
Celcom’s Cyber Threat solutions are complemented by a round-the-clock dedicated cyber operations team. Enterprises have direct contact with a Local Analyst with tailored-made deliverables based on their needs.
In terms of endpoint protection, Celcom provides the Cyber Guard Device solution to help safeguard mobile devices. The Cyber Guard Device solution encompasses a range of device security and management solutions, using machine learning to defend businesses on a device, network, and application level. The Cyber Guard Device solution also helps defend against phishing on anything running Android and iOS.
The Cyber Guard Device solution comes in a range of subscription levels starting from Basic, and moving across to Standard, Advanced, Pro and Max tiers. The Basic plan is powered by Zimperium, and allows businesses to install an enterprise-class, on-device security engine on Android and iOS devices that protect them against harmful WiFis and malicious apps. The Cyber Guard Device solution uses patented, behaviour-based analytics on the device to detect threats in real-time.
The Cyber Guard Device solution integrates with various leading enterprise mobile management solutions, including VMware Workspace One, BlackBerry, Citrix XenMobile, Microsoft Intune, MobileIron, Jamf, SOTI, and Samsung Knox.
The more advanced plans feature a cloud-based service that SMEs can use to manage devices as well as the apps and content on these devices. This enables them to provide their employees with access to apps and corporate data from their mobile devices, whether these devices are owned by the business, or owned by the employees themselves (BYOD, or bring-your-own-device).
For more details on how Celcom can help businesses in the property sector enhance their cybersecurity profile, visit https://business.celcom.com.my/cyber-security/cyber-guard-device.
