You may have recently received an email from the American Land Title Association (ALTA), detailing how a large cloud-hosting company was recently hacked. Sadly, on July 16, 2021, at 8:53 am, CLOUDSTAR was hit by a “highly sophisticated ransomware attack.” As of August 6, 2021, CLOUDSTAR is still wrestling with the impact of this event.
1) If You Are Currently Hosted By IIX:
Peace Of Mind
Discover how IIX protects your valuable data with 9 layers of protection.
Extra Protection
If you are already on the IIX Cloud there is an extra level of protection called Plant Shadow Copy / Reverse (PSC/R). This will put a complete copy of your Plant on your own server. Please call for a quote.
2) If You Currently Host Your Title Plant On Your Own Servers:
We urge you to have a conversation with your IT support team. There are many things they can do to safeguard your valuable data. Here is a partial checklist to help guide your conversation
Windows Updates
Are they installing Windows updates frequently on both servers and PCs? Many of these updates are Security Patches designed to foil hackers.
Anti-Virus/Malware (AV/AM)
Do you have robust AV/AM software installed and is it being frequently updated? There are many choices but none of them are any good to you if the virus definitions are not current.
Email Attachment Policy
Do you have a policy that prevents your users from opening attachments sent via email? This is the most common way viruses enter your network.
Secure Remote Connections (VPN)
If you have users connecting to your servers or PCs remotely, then you should use a VPN. The specific VPN to use will depend on your router brand.
Strong Passwords
Do you have really strong passwords for local and remote users? Hackers usually try various combinations of passwords using “brute force” methods that generate thousands of passwords each minute to try to log in to your administrator user account. Having strong passwords makes this much more difficult.
Disaster Recovery Plan (DR)
Usually referred to as DR, this is a plan for your recovery should you get hacked and are unable to recover. It has to do with backup retention cycles and replication to an alternate hosting site.
Offsite Backups
Are your backups always connected to your network or do you take them offsite? Having a backup offsite gives you an extra layer of protection. You may think your site is secure, but crazy things happen: fires, floods and other catastrophes that you haven’t anticipated.
There are other items to consider, but this should get you started.
3) If Your Plant Is Already Hosted By A Third Party:
Consider talking with your cloud-hosting provider on all of the above, plus the following …
Discuss with your hosting vendor how they approach DR. This recovery plan is important in the event your hosting solution is hacked. Learn what you can about how they prepare for such an event.
Request a backup copy of your plant from time to time. This is a good way to cooperate with their DR efforts, by maintaining your own copy. It also allows you to verify that they are indeed backing up your files.
4) If You Would Like A Complete Copy Of Your Plant Stored Safely At IIX:
IIX provides a secure and robust cloud-hosting platform designed with Title Plants in mind. But if you would rather keep your plant operating on your in-house servers, then consider the IIX Plant Shadow Copy (PSC) option.
PSC provides our clients some added peace of mind by allowing them to continue to host their own Plant, but store a copy of it on the IIX cloud where it will be kept safe and secure. This way, if anything happens to your local Plant(s) you will always have a copy of the Plant database and images at IIX and we can set you up to access the copy very quickly.
PSC is not a traditional backup that has to be restored. Think of it as a clone of your Plant(s). You can choose the schedule for PSC: Daily, weekly, semi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually.
You can get more frequent backups, for better coverage, or pay less and get less-frequent backups. Get the balance that’s the right fit for you.
5) If You Want To Explore The Benefits Of Having IIX Host Your Plant:
Learn
Learn about the IIX Cloud and what it can do for you.
Discover
Discover how IIX protects your valuable data with 9 layers of protection.
Experience
Experience how our newest Title Search program (TP) works seamlessly on the Cloud and avoids the need for internal browsers. (Best of all, this is a free upgrade for you if you are a registered IIX client.)
A Final Word:
No one is fully immune from ransomware attacks. Anyone who tells you differently is not telling the truth. The nature of virus attacks (of which Ransomware is a particularly nasty strain) is to constantly reinvent themselves. When you add the fact that some of the hackers are state-sponsored nations with deep pockets, and individuals who are hostile toward the United States, it is not hard to imagine they will come up with nasty new techniques for disrupting your business. They attack 24/7/365, with virtually unlimited budgets.
The key is to always have an effective DR Plant and to remain vigilant and open to new methods of security and new levels of protection. To this end, IIX is presently evaluating several new layers of protection in addition to our current 9 layers – in order to make your data even safer. We have invested heavily into this technology because we appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us.
If you have any questions about our hosting services, or if you would like a 30-day free trial, please contact our team.