commercial property

Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) are a class of mortgage securities that are supported by mortgages on commercial properties rather than residential real estate.  In layman’s terms, a CMBS Loan is a real estate loan which places commercial mortgages into a trust with other real estate loans and then that trust is sold as bonds to investors.

Banks can select mortgages they hold, categorize them and then bundle them together based on some set criteria. Once they are bundled, the bank sells them as bonds to various mutual funds and trusts.  Banks usually book a portion of the sale as profit, and are free to re-invest the balance into the market.

Additionally, as the banks become free of those mortgage liabilities no longer held by the bank (sold off as bonds), they are then positioned to make new loans to other borrowers.

The Current CMBS Crisis
CMBS loans that default are moved from the Master Servicer (master servicer manages payments and information and is responsible for usual interaction with the performing borrower) to the Special Servicer (special servicer handles defaulted loans, and has approval authority over material servicing actions, such as loan assumptions).

Specially serviced U.S. CMBS loans have been increasing since Q4 2011 and are likely to continue rising in 2012, according to Fitch Ratings (a recognized rating agency that provides objective and balanced credit opinions, research and data).

Fitch reports that transfers of over $20 million, has been increasing so far in 2012.  A total of 210 loans over $20 million were transferred to special servicers in 2011.

The number of CMBS loans moved to special servicers (by quarter) was:

1Q’11 – 329 CMBS loans, 57 over $20 million

2Q’11 – 292 CMBS loans, 46 over $20 million

3Q’11 – 299 CMBS loans, 42 over $20 million

4Q’11 – 340 CMBS loans, 65 over $20 million

Office space and retail loans led the new transfers in 2011 with 349 and 379 loans respectively. As leases roll and additional retailers consolidate space, it is expected office and retail to make up a larger percentage of newer transfers.

More than $43 billion mortgages packaged and sold as bonds will mature in 2012. The loans, many of which were taken out when property values peaked in 2007, will face even higher refinancing rates than those CMBS mortgages that came due in 2011 amid tighter lending standards.  In all likelihood, the delinquency rate is expected to rise in coming months as the 2007 loans were originated under the weakest underwriting standards.

With the first of the dreaded 2007 vintage loans starting to mature, severe upward pressure will be put on the rate over the next few months.  Even if the 2007 loans are only ‘as bad’ as the 2006 vintage has been, the rate could go by 75 basis points.

Meanwhile, according to Citigroup Inc., sales of bonds for commercial mortgages will probably fall 11 percent to about $25 billion in 2012 because of fluctuations influenced by Europe’s growing debt crisis and tighter creditor standards.

Analysts indicated that sales of the bonds, connected to everything from skyscrapers to strip malls, may be as low as $20 billion this year if the U.S. economy slows.

Additional data to consider when evaluating the state of CMBS now and into the future is from Moody’s (Moody’s provides international financial research on bonds issued by commercial and government entities).  They warn that even though low interest rates are currently acting as a positive influence, especially for five-year maturity loans which originated at the market’s peak, current volatility in the credit markets can reduce liquidity, making the outlook for 2016 and 2017, when the ten-year loans originated during the peak 2006 and 2007 mature, increasingly more negative.

It is also expected the proportion of specially serviced and delinquent CMBS loans to remain within a few percentage points of their respective current levels of 12.1% and 9.3% during 2012, and notes that the current delinquency rate is near the high-water mark expected for this cycle.

Office and retail, the largest sectors by share of total CMBS outstanding, both recorded higher delinquency rates in December 2011. Office delinquencies increased by 26 basis points to 8.65 percent, while retail delinquencies increased 25 basis points to 7.22 percent.

The industrial sector recorded the largest increase in delinquencies, with its rate rising 59 basis points to 12.09 percent – the highest delinquency rate reported for the sector to date.

By state, Nevada continues to have the highest delinquency rate, at around 20 percent.

Jeramie Concklin

CEO – Alliance Commercial Group

What is Public Relations?

At this point in time with a battered economy weighing heavily on most businesses, it is a bit aggravating to uncover that a significant percentage of the people heading some of the most successful companies in the U.S. never learned or reaped the additional and very real market rewards open to them by the correct use of PR in marketing.

Based on market research done with business leaders named to the U.S. Inc. 5000 list, JoTo Extreme PR and Marketing found that over 20% of the CEO’s surveyed confuse PR with advertising—they actually don’t know the difference, while another 18% believe PR is merely some form of promotion.

But to be fair, Public Relations and Marketing firms have obviously done an abysmal job of educating their clients and the business world in general on the correct use of PR and how exactly it relates to Marketing.  Since most CEOs are not educated or trained as marketers or PR consultants, it is up to the people running PR and marketing agencies to educate their clients—to fail to do is often counterproductive to PR’s goals as an uneducated client can inadvertently ruin an entire PR campaign with the utterance of just a few wrong words.

Another common misconception about Public Relations is that it is completely separate from marketing; that effective marketing can be done without PR.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  These two subjects are actually intrinsic to each other as they both ultimately have the same goal—a positive result from the public, whether it is in the acquisition of acquired admiration, trust or respect, or whether if it is in the form of product interest and purchase.

There is a natural flow and order to the use of these subjects which is almost always violated by most businesses. Ordinarily, a business creates a product or service and then simply starts promoting it; in many cases this process gets less than great results despite having a terrific offering and very well executed marketing communications. The reason: the people you are trying to convince to purchase your offering don’t know you well enough, may not trust you or may not believe your marketing message.

Why do you think Apple sells so many products? Yes, their products are good, but so are many of the similar products offered by their competitors—at lower cost. Yet Apple is the Big Man on Campus as far as familiarity, respect and sales.  One very big reason Apple sells so many products is because people trust Apple.

Trust can be very contagious. The more people see other people with Apple products and hear how much they like them, the greater the trust and familiarity becomes toward Apple as a Corporation and for their products…and that corporate trust and admiration even translated into respect and admiration for their late CEO, Steve Jobs.  That is the power inherent in third party endorsements—others saying your products, services and corporation are wonderful. That is the power that a good PR campaign will channel (and it IS supposed to channel – not be something separate) so that when you do run your marketing campaign it is well received with some degree of familiarity and trust.

Today, Social Media makes Public Relations more powerful than ever before.  It can be used effectively to improve your company’s image and to garner trust through other user’s experience.

Consumers can post their product “Like’s” on Facebook, they can Tweet about them, they can discuss them in Chats, they can Blog about them—consumers can get your message out in ways that you cannot. But you have to know how to channel and use that power. It is not just a matter of “throwing up an FB page”; what you do with that page is what it’s all about.

So how do you acquire trust and familiarity for your business and your products? Public Relations.

In an ideal world, PR would always be done before marketing starts; there is a natural law behind this. This fundamental concept applies to all aspects of life, not just business.  A business or a person’s reputation and activities should precede them to make communication and transactions smoother, easier, faster or even possible at all.

It applies to dating or marrying someone, it applies to selecting a school for your children, it applies to voting for a politician (although you are still likely to be disappointed with a political choice at one time or another—the reason being that politicians often misapply Public Relations by lacing their PR with “white lies” or in some cases with blatant distortions). In the end they are always found out. So, remember, always be truthful in your PR as well as in your marketing.

In a similar way that a person who doesn’t know you well enough would not be inclined to date you, or in the same way that you would not entrust your children to anyone that you had no familiarity or comfort with, so too will an individual who does not know your company to some degree be hesitant to doing business with it—and may in fact do business with a competitive company they are more familiar with despite paying more for an inferior product or service. The power of familiarity, trust and credibility is usually underestimated by business executives and not addressed seriously enough prior to launching a marketing campaign for a new commodity.

For these and other fundamental reasons is why you should definitely apply the core concepts of good public relations to any venture you decide to embark upon.

It is almost never too late to start a public relations campaign.  Even when your reputation has already been smeared, the solution to gaining back ground and even once again attainting a good reputation is possible with correct application of PR.  The specifics of that methodology are contained in a sub-section of Public Relations known as Crisis Management and its sub-category Reputation Management.

A classic example of Crisis Management (and reputation management) is the case of Bill Clinton. Remember Monica and Clinton’s near impeachment? While people do remember her and the infamous proceedings where he was caught in a lie, President Clinton is more highly respected and admired than ever before—post Monica.  So much so that while Bill Clinton went into the White House with a net worth less than one million dollars, his worth is now estimated to be above $80,000,000. That popularity and demand for his services are the results of very good public relations work. Clinton is instinctively a master of PR, but even he knew better than to go it alone and instead made good use of professional PR people to craft and oversee the management of his image and PR activities. These led to lucrative speaking engagements and other revenue sources.

Any attempt at image management or increased product market share will be handicapped without the use of effective PR laying the groundwork first. In today’s electronic marketplace, a marketing plan without considering Public Relations is akin to spitting on a raging fire in an attempt to squelch the flames – the fire is the onslaught of messages attacking your target markets’ minds EVERY DAY. The spit is your marketing effort (which adequately describes how much spitting you have to do to put out the fire that continues to grow.)

Ask yourself, how many new products are glutting the market each day, week and year? And even if you have enough money to pour at that raging fire, imagine how much spit (marketing effort) it would take to get that fire out.

A much wiser option would be to use some of that money more effectively to shape people’s image of your company BEFORE they see your advertising asking them to buy from you.  Get them to think highly of you first and then send them your sales promotion. With the proper utilization of Business PR, people will become more familiar, interested and comfortable in doing business with you.

So what do you do now? Simple. Recognize that you do not know all there is to know about Public Relations. Realize that your business and marketing efforts could highly benefit from the application of expertly done public relations on your behalf. Hire experts in the field with proven results.

Jamie Sene

Contact JoTo Extreme PR for a Complimentary Consultation.

salesman

1. Face Reality – Be comfortable with the prospect and willing to hear anything he has to say.  Be willing to control your prospect and the sales process. Be comfortable with your sales tools and willing to use them.

2. Create Drive – You must strongly intend to complete the sales process and close the prospect (Do not be wishy-washy, soft, meek, introverted, scared, etc.).

3. Have Purpose – Help the prospect. Help is your purpose, not pushing an unneeded service or product. Always let the prospect know you want to help or find out if they want help with whatever it is that your service/product resolves, improves, increases, etc.

4. Run Control – You control the conversation, you dictate the pace and sales process.

5. Be Interested – Always be interested in the prospect and what he has to say (related to what you are selling as opposed to just talking about sports, hobbies, etc.).

Jamie Sene

Phishing Email

As you may know by now, cyberheists are a very real and growing problem for organizations of all sizes. What you may not know is that the cybercrime problem is well beyond the scope of your anti-virus software, beyond the protection of your network firewall and beyond just about any other preventative measure you’ve taken if every employee in your organization is not trained to avoid the sophisticated Internet scams and phishing emails that are coming their way.

Any business, organization or government institution that provides Internet access to its employees is only as safe from cybercrime as the employees are thoroughly trained to avoid phishing scams and other cyberheist schemes. That means the more employees you have that use email or go online, the greater your chances of having your bank accounts robbed through a cybercrime.

Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) needs to be an essential part of every business’s cyber defense strategy. If you have any doubt that you have people that work for you who are ignorant of phishing ploys, go to this free test website and find out how many employees fall for a network intrusion scam: free phishing security test.

In the meantime here are a few key points that you can have your IT staff implement right now to help protect your business from cybercrime:

1. All accounts should have passwords and the passwords should be unusual, difficult to guess.
2. Change the network configuration when defects become known.
3. Check with vendors for upgrades and patches.
4. Audit systems and check logs to help in detecting and tracing an intruder.
5. Train Every Employee to detect and avoid the methods used by cyber criminals to gain access to your network.

Jamie Sene

Network Security Hole

Let me start by making a bold statement right up front and then explaining myself. The bold statement is that you have a false sense of security about the safely of your network; that includes all the data within that network and every online aspect of all business dealings and transactions you and everyone in your organization does.

If you doubt me, answer this question: “If our network is protected by a top antivirus program and we have a high-end firewall in place, why is it that we routinely get malware infections throughout the organization that need to be cleaned up and removed by the guys in IT?”

Probably the most harmful aspect of a person’s mindset to a business or organization is having a false sense of security. But this is not just a subjective thing I am talking about. A false sense of security, from a business viewpoint, translates directly to your network security and that affects the daily functionality of your organization and runs as deep as your bank accounts.

“If your organization has not yet fallen victim to a cyberheist, it is not because your network is invulnerable, it is because you have been lucky. It is only because you have not yet been targeted…”

Cybercrime is a growing problem for businesses small and large, non-profit organizations, churches and government agencies. Cybercrime is no longer just a lone hacker typing away in a dark basement trying to gain access to a protected network for fun. Cybercrime today is big business, organized and funded by substantial resources all aimed at stealing money and data from legitimate organizations.

Watch this short video and learn how cyber criminals are likely to attack your network: Internet Security Training

The cybercrime problem is beyond the scope of your anti-virus software, beyond the protection of your network firewall and beyond just about any other preventative measure you’ve taken, if all your employees are not thoroughly trained to deal with the sophisticated Internet scams and phishing emails that are coming their way on a daily basis.

If you want to find out how many of your employees easily fall for these types of network intrusion scams, go to this website and set up a free phishing security test.

Jamie Sene

Cybercrime

According to a new case study published by the Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) firm KnowBe4, a telephony denial-of-service (TDoS) attack against a semi-retired St. Augustine dentist served as a smokescreen for a nearly $400,000 cyberheist.

In November 2009, Robert Thousand Jr. began receiving a flood of calls to his business, home and mobile phone lines. The calls consisted of a 30-second recorded message from a sex hotline. What appeared to be a phone service issue turned out to be far more sinister. The following month, Thousand discovered that five transfers totaling $399,000 had been made from his TD Ameritrade retirement account. When the FBI investigated his case, it became apparent that the TDoS attack was intended to prevent Thousand’s broker from reaching him while the criminals committed their cyberheist.

TDoS is a form of denial-of-service (DoS) attack. When the calls come from multiple sources, it is known as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The high volume of automated calls prevents victims from making or receiving legitimate calls, thereby denying them use of their phone service. In Thousand’s case, the cybercriminalsset up a number of VoIP accounts and used automated dialing to inundate his phone lines. While that was happening, they initiated the transfers that drained his retirement account.

Thousand was not the only victim to be targeted in such a manner. Others reported similar telephony DoS attacks in the months that followed. In 2010, the Communication Fraud Control Association (CFCA) and the FBI formed a partnership to identify TDoS patterns and trends, prevent DoS attacks, raise Internet security awareness and catch those who conduct cyberheists. Despite these efforts, unsuspecting members of the public can still fall prey to increasingly sophisticated cybercrime tactics.

“The problem is larger than the issue of telephony denial of service alone,” explained KnowBe4 founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman (pronounced “shower-man”). “Before the cybercriminals launched their TDoS attack, they found a way to obtain Dr. Thousand’s Ameritrade account information and password. Victims in these cases are often targeted through phishing attempts or by clicking an innocuous-looking email link that downloads malware to their system. In this manner, criminals are able to capture account details, passwords and other personal information. Once they have access to an account, they can then change the contact numbers and impersonate the victim when communicating with the bank or broker.”

Sjouwerman advises those on the receiving end of a telephony DoS attack to immediately contact all financial institutions where they hold accounts and request a halt to any transfer requests, and then report the suspected cybercrime to the authorities. The sooner victims act, the better chance they have of preventing or minimizing potential losses. However, Sjouwerman emphasizes that Internet security awareness is critical in order for targets to prevent a cybercriminal from obtaining their account information in the first place.

“As awareness of phishing tactics increases, people are becoming more wary of emails from unknown senders. However, cybercriminals have become much more sophisticated in their practices. They are able to convincingly make it appear as if an email is being sent by a bank, government institution or trusted friend or colleague,” noted Sjouwerman. “All it takes is a single click to unwittingly give intruders access to a computer. They can then view all of the personal information contained within, as well as any transactions conducted online.”

While individuals must take responsibility for their own Internet activity and data security, Sjouwerman stressed that businesses need to implement proactive measures to minimize their employees’ vulnerability to phishing tactics. “In many cases, data security breaches that occur from within a company are not the result of any employee’s malicious intent, but rather an honest mistake made by someone who happened to be susceptible to phishing. That’s why Internet security awareness training is so important. It helps personnel identify and avoid potential phishing attempts that can expose the company to financial loss and intellectual property theft.”

KnowBe4 developed a free phishing security test that enables businesses to determine how Phish-prone™ their employees are. Through KnowBe4’s exclusive First2Know™ Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT), small and medium enterprises can conduct high-quality, Internet-based training to educate their staff about phishing, viruses, social engineering and other related topics. Upon completion of the training, regularly scheduled phishing security tests identify any lapses and indicate if remedial training is required.

To view the case study about the Florida dentist’s TDoS attack, or for more details on KnowBe4’s Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT), visit http://www.knowbe4.com/case-studies.

About Stu Sjouwerman and KnowBe4
Stu Sjouwerman is the founder and CEO of KnowBe4, LLC, which provides web-based Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) to small and medium enterprises. A data security expert with more than 30 years in the IT industry, Sjouwerman was the co-founder of Sunbelt Software, an award-winning anti-malware software company that he and his partner sold to GFI Software in 2010. Realizing that the human element of security was being seriously neglected, Sjouwerman decided to help entrepreneurs tackle cybercrime tactics through advanced Internet security awareness training. He is the author of four books, including Cyberheist: The Biggest Financial Threat Facing American Businesses Since the Financial Meltdown of 2008, available in April 2011. For more information on Sjouwerman and KnowBe4, visit http://www.knowbe4.com.

Jamie Sene

cybercrime

According to a new case study published by the Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) firm KnowBe4, Bradenton-based lawyer Kimberly Graus found out the hard way that data security breaches can happen to any business, anywhere, at any time when hackers bypassed her antivirus software and initiated $35,000 in wire transfers from a trust fund she manages. She was just one of the nearly 20,000 Floridians who filed a case with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center last year – making Florida #2 in the nation in cybercrime complaints.*

Graus was most likely the victim of a phishing attempt disguised as a seemingly innocuous email. When she clicked a link within the message, it surreptitiously downloaded a program to her computer. This malware allowed the hackers to capture Graus’ account passwords when she entered them online, and then initiate the illicit wire transfers from her own IP address.

Upon noticing the missing funds, Graus acted quickly to report the suspicious activity, enabling her bank to stop three of the four electronic transfers. Unfortunately, $9,500 had already gone through to an unknown recipient in the Ukraine. Because businesses do not enjoy the same FDIC insurance that consumers do, that left Graus out nearly $10,000 – plus the cost of a computer forensic analysis and a new laptop.

“Graus protected her account information, maintained antivirus software and had three layers of password security in her online banking system. Yet in spite of these precautions, she still fell prey to the sophisticated cyberheist tactics of Eastern European criminals,” explained KnowBe4 founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman (pronounced “shower-man”). “Many professionals believe that antivirus software will protect them from all external threats, but that simply isn’t the case.”

Sjouwerman noted that Internet security awareness has led most people to be suspicious of unsolicited emails from unknown senders, especially when the messages are rife with misspellings and poor grammar. But when phishing emails appear to be an official message sent by the recipient’s bank or credit card company, a government agency, or a trusted friend or colleague, even the most savvy Internet users may click without thinking. And all it takes is one click to compromise a computer and its data security.

“Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need to take proactive measures to combat new and evolving cybercrime tactics,” said Sjouwerman. “They also need to realize that they can’t rely solely on their IT teams alone to guard against hackers and other cyber threats. Any employee that inadvertently clicks on a phishing email can expose the entire company to potentially devastating damages and loss. That’s why Internet security awareness training is critical for staff at every level of the organization.”

KnowBe4 offers a free phishing security test that allows SMEs to determine how Phish-prone™ their employees are. The company’s exclusive First2Know™ Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) is an industry first, providing high-quality, interactive training to educate staff about phishing, malware, social engineering and other related topics. Afterward, scheduled phishing security tests help to keep employees on their toes and determine if remedial training is necessary.

To view the case study about the Bradenton trust account cyberheist, or to learn more about the Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) offered by KnowBe4, visit http://www.knowbe4.com/case-studies.

*Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). 2010 Internet Crime Report and Florida IC3 2010 Internet Crime Report; February 2011.

About Stu Sjouwerman and KnowBe4
Stu Sjouwerman is the founder and CEO of KnowBe4, LLC, which provides web-based Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) to small and medium enterprises. A data security expert with more than 30 years in the IT industry, Sjouwerman was the co-founder of Sunbelt Software, an award-winning anti-malware software company that he and his partner sold to GFI Software in 2010. Realizing that the human element of security was being seriously neglected, Sjouwerman decided to help entrepreneurs tackle cybercrime tactics through advanced Internet security awareness training. He is the author of four books, including Cyberheist: The Biggest Financial Threat Facing American Businesses Since the Financial Meltdown of 2008, available in April 2011. For more information on Sjouwerman and KnowBe4, visit http://www.knowbe4.com.

Jamie Sene
VP Marketing
www.KnowBe4.com

# # #

KnowBe4 is the market leading on-demand Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) provider that enables enterprises to quickly solve the increasingly urgent security problem of social engineering.

Texas Commercial Real Estate

SITUATION: This LLC owned and managed a commercial business park which primarily offered office space available for rent. Due to the recent economic downturn, the client’s commercial office building, in the outlying areas of Texas, was struggling with devaluation and high vacancy rates (estimated near 78%) driven by increased competition for an existing, yet highly limited supply of prospective tenants.

The business park’s owner faced significant cash flow problems due to low vacancy rates since early 2008 and was since unable to attract new tenants and stabilize the property. Furthermore, the drop in commercial property values across the nation in 2008-2009 made any hopes of finding adequate refinancing unrealistic. A lender’s appraisal was reported in September of 2010 and estimated the property’s value at only 34% of the original principal balance; underwritten in mid 2006 and based solely on future projections of increasing value.

Throughout 2008-2010, income kept slipping downward while expenses either held constant or increased. The owner struggled for years to fund his debt service obligation using his own private equity and personal resources. As so many commercial property owners already know, funding the mortgage payments “out of pocket” could only continue for so long. As a result, the loan slipped into payment default and was expeditiously moved into special servicing. The lender began moving aggressively within their legal rights toward foreclose.

Within a matter of weeks, the lender had coordinated and approved sale of the note to a private, third-party investor. The note was sold, at a discount, through an internal sale agreement between the special servicer and a private, third party. The small, Texas based investment group specialized in purchasing notes on distressed assets, foreclosing on them, and selling them for a profit- all at the loss or the original borrower.

The new note holders filed for immediate foreclosure and the borrower was faced with approximately 30 days to save his property in its entirety. The borrower still saw great potential within this particular asset and was not prepared to lose it to foreclosure.

WHAT WAS DONE: Guardian Solutions was retained by the business park owner to intervene and work toward a solution with the new note holders in advance of the foreclosure sale date. Guardian Solutions was able to analyze the pertinent data, determine the best position to take, and negotiate a discounted purchase offer directly with the new note holders.

Guardian Solutions provided an objective financial analysis which helped to shape the present note holder’s perceptions of the property’s inherent value. Guardian Solutions proceeded with an aggressive negotiation with the note holders and was able to successfully reach an agreement on a purchase amount between both parties.

This acceptance of a discounted payoff resulted in an end to the foreclosure. The note holder halted the proceedings and accepted the offer for a payoff. The property owner was not only able to purchase the note on his business park at a 41% discount from his principal balance owed, but was also able to avoid repayment of late fees, default interest, contract interest owed in arrears, and defeasance. Guardian Solutions intervened ahead of the sale date, saving the business park from total loss through foreclosure.
In a few short weeks, the business park owner succeeded in purchasing the note on his property, at significant discount, from an otherwise aggressive, foreclosure-minded note holder. Guardian successfully helped the owner secure the title to his property and inherently erased a debt that included hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees, penalties, and arrears.

About Guardian Solutions
Guardian Solutions is the one of nation’s largest commercial loan restructuring companies and is committed to helping commercial property owners save their properties. Guardian’s client-base more than doubled in 2010 alone, as more property owners learned about the effective methodology that Guardian employs to set struggling assets on the road to recovery. The company’s knowledgeable mitigators are experienced in a variety of disciplines to provide customized restructuring solutions. For more information, visit www.GuardianSolutions.org

Contact:
Jamie Sene
Vice President, Marketing
Guardian Solutions
727-442-8833
jvs@guardiansolutions.org
www.GuardianSolutions.org

cyberheist

As you know by now, cyberheists continue to be a growing problem for corporations of all sizes. The problem is beyond anti-virus software, beyond firewalls and beyond just about any other preventative measure you can take if the employees in your company are not trained to avoid the security pitfalls they will come across while they are sitting at their PCs.

As a key player in your company, or just a responsible person who want the business you work to stave off cyber attacks, the solution to this problem may fall solely on you to implement, or at least raise the alarm.

Internet Security Awareness Training now is an essential part of every businesses cyber defense strategy. KnowBe4 is the market leading on-demand Internet Security Awareness Training (ISAT) provider that enables corporations like yours to quickly solve the increasingly urgent security problem of social engineering (cybercrime).

Watch this short video and learn how cyber criminals are likely to attack your company: Internet Security Training

These are a few key points to implement now to protect your business from cybercrime:

1. All accounts should have passwords and the passwords should be unusual, difficult to guess.
2. Change the network configuration when defects become known.
3. Check with vendors for upgrades and patches.
4. Audit systems and check logs to help in detecting and tracing an intruder.
5. Train Every Employee to detect and avoid the ingenious and very insidious methods used by cyber criminals to gain access to your network. If you don’t, your company is at risk…

if you would like to know how you can better protect your company from cybertheft visit http://www.knowbe4.com/ or call them at 855-566-9234

Jamie Sene