New Partnership Offers Assessments, Certification to Data Security

December 12, 2013

Real Estate Data Shield has formed a partnership with Security Compliance Associates (SCA) to offer on-site security assessments and certification to the third pillar of ALTA’s Title Insurance and Settlement Company Best Practices.

“SCA’s depth in credentialed security experts and their 13 years of experience in providing security assessments to highly regulated business sectors makes them a great strategic partner to Real Estate Data Shield,” said Christopher Gulotta, chief executive officer of Real Estate Data Shield. “They’ve invested hundreds of man hours in designing a scalable and customized, title and settlement industry-specific security assessment product that will arm independent title and settlement agents with the certifications they need to demonstrate their security compliance and preparedness for lender or regulatory security audits.”

Data security compliance is a top concern for lenders and regulators are holding them strictly responsible for the compliance of their vendors, according to Gulotta. SCA’s independent assessment and certification services coupled with Real Estate Data Shield security solutions enable the industry to embrace comprehensive and essential security compliance tools.

SCA has more than 13 years’ experience in delivering IT information security assessment services throughout the United States. Working closely with Real Estate Data Shield, Gulotta said SCA developed a title and settlement specific audit, assessment and certification process to enable the industry to become compliant and demonstrate this to lender clients and regulators.

Upon successful completion of an Information Security Assessment and remediation activities, SCA will issue a certification to clients. The SCA certification will reference compliance with current ALTA Best Practices Pillar No. 3, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Federal Trade Commission regulatory requirements as represented by SCA’s Core Title and Settlement Information Security Package.

“Being associated with the leading data solutions company in this vital business sector is indeed an honor,” said Jim Brahm, chief executive officer of SCA. “Real Estate Data Shield’s internationally recognized executive team is unmatched in this industry and has been at the forefront of the data security compliance movement both nationally and within this industry. SCA’s assessment and certification tools will allow companies to assess their security compliance status, identify areas for improvement and once remediated, obtain a compliance certification. We’ve developed affordable, scalable and industry-specific solutions designed to help title and settlement agents evidence their compliance with industry best practices and protect themselves from security and cyber threats.”


Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.