Cyber security - industry professionals feel unprepared for attacks

Property professionals are increasingly worried about the threat of cyber attacks, according to new research.

Some 41% of 'real estate professionals from across Europe' who were polled by cloud solutions provider Drooms said they believe the industry is underprepared to deal with cyber attacks.

Just 4% of respondents taking part said they believe the industry is 'extremely' well prepared, while 55% said preparations are 'moderate'.

More than nine in 10 professionals said they expect the number of cyber attacks on businesses to increase over the next five years - 86% said they are concerned about the threat, 40% of whom said they are extremely worried.

Respondents said the most negative consequence of cyber attacks is reputational damage, followed by fines from regulators, loss of revenue, loss of customers, compensation to customers and the cost of resources needed to combat cyber attacks.

The area in which those taking part said their companies are most vulnerable is controlling external parties' access to information. Other reasons for being vulnerable included protecting information flows between devices, protecting against ransomware and controlling employees’ access to information.

"Many real estate firms run several data hubs within their organisations, making it difficult to know where data is held and who is processing it. This means they are all the more susceptible to cyber attacks," says Alexandre Grellier, co-founder and chief executive of Drooms.

"It is essential that real estate companies adopt technological tools and processes with sufficient data protection and support if they are to defend themselves against attacks that potentially threaten their survival."

"They can be reassured, however, in that such tools do currently exist and will even enhance their operational efficiency," he says.