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Danny Frank, The Real Estate Expert

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Mobile Device Security:Best Practices and Tools

02-07-12
Danny Frank, The Real Estate Expert
Most real estate professionals own a mobile device that stores contacts and emails, and that provides access to social media and other online accounts. However, some real estate professionals may not realize the sensitivity of the documents they receive via email as part of the closing process. Mobile devices create an information security risk that needs to be addressed. There are two basic categories of risk management when it comes to mobile devices: practices and tools.

The first practice is to physically protect the device. Information on the device is sensitive; don’t leave it sitting around unattended and unprotected. But that’s not a reliable practice. According to a 2010 Symantec study, 62% of us have lost a mobile device or had it stolen. Therefore, additional care is required.

The second practice is to require authentication (login) to access the phone – a password or difficult-to-guess “swipe.” Most mobile devices have this capability now. Keep in mind that a dirty screen makes it easy to see a swipe pattern, so get in the habit of running your palm over the screen after you log in to your device.

The third practice is encryption, where the data is scrambled and requires a code or login to unscramble, so a thief can’t read the data off your device’s memory card. On some devices, encryption is the default, on others you have to turn it on, while on still others you have to use optional software, which I’ll come back to later in this article. Research your device carefully for encryption options.

The fourth practice is limiting Bluetooth, a capability that lets you add a wireless headset to your device but can also be very hackable. Set Bluetooth to “hidden mode” on your device, and disable it when not in use.

The fifth practice is limiting installation of third-party “apps.” If you download lots of apps from untrustworthy sources or written by companies you don’t know and trust, you may be installing dangerous software on your device. Take care, because you can’t depend on “app store” managers or website owners where you download software to be cautious for you.

Many tools are available to help you secure your mobile device in a variety of ways, including providing antivirus, encryption, and firewall-like features. They let you remotely lock and wipe data from the device, take a picture of the person using your device, sound an alarm (useful when you can’t find your phone, too!), and display information on the screen to help someone return a lost device. The following list is by no means comprehensive, but includes some of the better known and most trusted companies and products on the market.

Kaspersky (kaspersky.com): On the Windows Mobile, Symbian, Blackberry, and Android platforms, Kaspersky provides a tool which includes antivirus, lets you wipe data remotely, and lets you find your missing device on a Google map. This tool can provide encryption for Windows Mobile and Symbian.

McAfee (wavesecure.com): McAfee’s WaveSecure product, which works on Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Phone, Java-based devices and iPhone, provides a wide variety of features varying by device. It lets you back up and restore your data, lock your phone remotely, sound an alarm, wipe your data, see where your phone is on a map and display a message to prompt someone who has your device to return it. It can also send a text message alert if someone tries to put a new SIM card (memory) in your phone to try to prevent you from finding your phone. And it has a feature to prevent someone from uninstalling the security software. On the iPhone, the features are limited to data backup and restoration and tracking the phone location.

AVG (avg.com): On the Android platform, AVG provides a tool which includes a phone locator, remote lock and data wiping, and antivirus, and even helps protect you when you surf the web by blocking pages it determines contain dangerous scripts or malware.

Norton (www.norton.com): Their Mobile Security product is usable with Android only, but is very full-featured. It provides antivirus/antimalware protection, blocks known fraudulent (phishing) websites, and lets you remotely locate, lock, and wipe data from your phone, display a “lost” message, grab a picture of the person using your device (if the device has a webcam), and sound an alarm.

Trend Micro (us.trendmicro.com): On the Android platform, this tool blocks known fraudulent (phishing) websites, allows you to locate, lock and wipe data from your device, and sound an alarm. If the SIM (memory) is taken from the device, it automatically locks the device and displays your customized “lost” message.
Security tools on the iPhone and iPad are limited because Apple has not cooperated very well with security vendors. Some security capabilities are built right into the Apple devices, especially if you add the optional MobileMe service, which allows you to find the device and remotely lock and wipe the data from it. But available third-party tools are fairly limited and new, and most haven’t been thoroughly reviewed by the security community. However, you may want to consider tools like Webroot SecureWeb Browser (itunes.apple.com), which attempts to block malicious websites, and GadgetTrak (gadgettrak.com), which can send you the device location and pictures of whoever is using it. If you have Intego (intego.com) VirusBarrier on your Mac, you can also use it to scan for viruses on your Apple mobile devices.

New threats and new security tools are emerging all the time, and mobile device security is really the new frontier of information security. If you follow the practices outlined above and continue to evaluate your mobile security tool options, then the mobile world should be a safer place for you, your data, and the data which others entrust to you.

Matt Cohen has consulted to MLSs, Associations, franchises, brokerages, and many real estate industry software companies for over 14 years. Matt is a well-regarded real estate industry expert on industry trends, software design, product management, project management, and information security.
Credit for this story goes to / JANUARY 6, 2012 http://www.harconnect.com/

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Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources:http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/. And for all of your Pearland, TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit my site at:http://www.danfrankrealty.com. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.

Remember, Danny Frank is always looking to hire new and experienced real estate agents for the team at Keller Williams. Are you ready to move to the next level in your career? Call me to join today. You can see my entire blog at: http://www.pearlandrealtyblog.com

Call Danny Frank, at 713-581-4702 to find out how you can become part of the fastest growing real estate company in the world.

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HAR TOOLS Overview with Danny Frank

01-26-12
Danny Frank, The Real Estate Expert
Do you want or need to learn about the FREE tools that HAR.com offers its members? Danny Frank, Chairman-Elect HAR, will be giving a class on the tools of the trade and how to use them in your real estate business. The class will be held at the Keller Williams Realty office in Pearland from 10 to 11:30 on Friday, Jan 27, 2012. The class is free to Realtors. You can RSVP at: https://www.facebook.com/events/236531279760558/

Become part of something bigger
Keller Williams Realty is a company that changes lives. The culture is as diverse as the countless ways in which associates and market centers commit themselves to finding and serving the higher purpose of business, and is united by cohesive understanding of our Mission, Vision, Values, Beliefs and Perspectives.

During our first, annualRED Day, which is now a company wide tradition, 22,000 associates participated in a coordinated effort to give back with their local communities.
At the heart of Keller Williams culture in action is KW Cares, a public charity created to reach out and support each other during times of extreme and unexpected hardship.

Call Danny Frank, at 713-581-4702 to find out how you can become part of the fastest growing real estate company in the world.

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Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources:http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/. And for all of your Pearland, TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit my site at:http://www.danfrankrealty.com. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.

Remember, Danny Frank is always looking to hire new and experienced real estate agents for the team at Keller Williams. Are you ready to move to the next level in your career? Call me to join today. You can see my entire blog at: http://www.pearlandrealtyblog.com

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Danny Frank Joins the Keller Williams Clear Lake/NASA Office as Team leader

11-17-11
Danny Frank, The Real Estate Expert

Danny Frank Joins the Keller Williams Clear Lake Office


Danny Frank has joined the Keller Williams Realty Team in Clear Lake/NASA area of Houston TX as the new Team Leader/General Manager. Danny is a well respect member of the Houston Association of Realtors and is the 2012 Chairman Elect and will be Chairman 2013. Danny also serves as a Regional Vice President to the Texas Association of Realtors and he also sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Realtors as well.

The office Danny is now leading is expanding and now houses 126 Realtors. Danny hopes to have to office agent count up to 175 by the end of 2012. He is now interviewing both new and seasoned agents to help agents grow their profit share that Keller Williams gives back to it’s agents.

Danny Frank says “A commitment to training and coaching at every level is at the heart of what sets Keller Williams Realty apart. Keller Williams University provides an industry-leading curriculum addressing every aspect of success in real estate. Multimedia training is offered online, via KWConnect, the real estate industry's most innovative distance learning program. Among the industry’s top tier coaching programs,MAPS Coaching, led by Dianna Kokoszka, is having a profound impact on the careers of thousands of real estate professionals.”

Become part of something bigger
Keller Williams Realty is a company that changes lives. The culture is as diverse as the countless ways in which associates and market centers commit themselves to finding and serving the higher purpose of business, and is united by cohesive understanding of our Mission, Vision, Values, Beliefs and Perspectives.

During our first, annualRED Day, which is now a companywide tradition, 22,000 associates participated in a coordinated effort to give back with their local communities.
At the heart of Keller Williams culture in action is KW Cares, a public charity created to reach out and support each other during times of extreme and unexpected hardship.

Call Danny Frank, at 713-581-4702 to find out how you can become part of the fastest growing real estate company in the world.

*************************************************************

Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources:http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/. And for all of your Pearland, TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit his site at:http://www.danfrankrealty.com. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.


Remember, Danny Frank is always looking to hire new and experienced real estate agents for the team at Keller Williams Are you ready to move to the next level in your career? Call him to join today You can see his entire blog at: http://www.pearlandrealtyblog.com

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Key Decisions From Nov. 2011 Board of Directors Meeting - NAR

11-17-11
Danny Frank, The Real Estate Expert
Directors Rescind Franchisor MLS IDX Display Policy

The NAR Board of Directors meeting at the end of the 2011 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Anaheim on Monday voted to rescind a Multiple Listing Service policy on the display of Internet Data Exchange (IDX) listings on franchisors' Web sites.
A work group has been tasked to broaden the policy to address listing displays over mobile devices and via social media (with a broker opt-out option). Listing data sent via RSS (Really Simple syndication) won't be included because of the difficulty in controlling access to RSS feeds.
In other changes to MLS policy, directors took the following actions:
  • Sales price information. Amended the Statement of MLS Policy and the implementing model MLS rules to allow MLSs to require reporting of sale prices by participants. In "non-disclosure states," if sale prices are provided by the MLS to government agencies and or third-party entities for uses other than those authorized in the amended Policy Statement, sellers may request that their sale price not be provided to such entities.
  • REOs. Gave MLSs discretionary authority to require listing participants to disclose whether listed property is a foreclosure, bank-owned, or real estate-owned (REO).
  • Lockboxes. Increased from $200 to $300 the maximum security deposit associations and MLSs can require for lockboxes.


At the meeting, the Directors took actions on other areas of association business:

Nominating Rules
  • Adopted a set of binding endorsement guidelines for members of the NAR Nominating Committee, alternates, and members of the Leadership Team to promote impartiality toward members running for association office
  • Required that regions appoint an alternate representative as a non-voting member of the Nominating Committee to help ensure continuity on the committee.
  • Established criteria for state or regional endorsements of candidates


Appraisal Policy
  • Sent a set of property valuation principles back to a workgroup to ensure they don't conflict with the NAR Code of Ethics. The principles would support independent valuations of real property. The Responsible Valuation Principles were developed by a workgroup of the Appraisal subcommittee and address the licensing of appraisers, coercion of appraisers to reach valuations, and compliance with the appraisal industry's Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.
  • Changed the structure of the Appraisal Committee to be a broader based Real Property Valuation Committee. Members of the reconstituted committee, which came out of a valuation summit held earlier this year, will provide recommendations on valuation-related issues and will be composed of appraisers, brokers, and members engaged in other real estate disciplines.



Code of Ethics and Professional Standards:
  • The Delegate Body adopted language to implement discretionary authority for boards and associations to require their members mediate disputes that would be otherwise arbitrated.
  • The board also adopted a new Standard of Practice 3.9 to prohibit REALTORS® from accessing or using, or permitting or enabling others to access or use, listed or managed property on terms or conditions other than those authorized by the owner or seller.
  • In the Delegate Body meeting, delegates changed the word "competitors" to "other real estate professionals" in a provision in Article 15 of the Code that prohibits the making of false or misleading statements about others.


Federal Policy
  • The board adopted a policy to oppose any efforts in the federal government to consolidate the operations of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Rural Housing Service. Under the policy, if the two agencies were consolidated, NAR would seek to ensure there's no diminishment or disruption in programs.
  • To help address what practitioners say is an increasing number of lawsuits against brokers alleging violation of Section 8 (anti-kickback) of the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), NAR will create a group to examine the legislative, regulatory, administrative, and judicial terrain of RESPA and identify recommendations for changes.


Internal Business
  • The board amended the association's investment statement for governing the management of its funds, including its new REALTOR® Party funds. Among other things, up to 50 percent of funds may be placed with an outside investment manager, up from 40 percent.
  • The board also authorized NAR to purchase a 2012 Master Policy for the Professional Liability Insurance Program for itself, its affiliates, and state and local associations and their wholly owned MLSs and affiliates. The $1.2 million premium is 14 percent lower than this year's premium.
  • The Delegate Body changed Article III, section 8, of the NAR Constitution to broaden the definition of an NAR international affiliate to "organization" from "association" to reflect that many international affiliates aren't structured as associations.


State and Local Political Activism
NAR will provide Issues Mobilization funding of $332,140 to the Oregon Association of REALTORS® for the next phase of their Coordinated Campaign to pass a Constitutional ballot measure in 2012 to permanently prohibit real estate transfer taxes in Oregon.

People
The Nominating Committee announced its NAR leadership slate for 2013: Gary Thomas of Alison Viejo, Calif., for president; Steve Brown of Dayton, Ohio, for president-elect; Chris Polychron of Hot Springs, Ark., for first vice president; and Bill Armstrong, Damascus, Maryland, for treasurer.
The Nominating Committee also announced that three NAR members have filed for office of first vice president: Bill Brown of Oakland, Calif.; James Helsel of Camp Hill, Pa.; and Thomas F. Salomone of Coral Springs, Fla., and for treasurer, Michael C. McGrew of Lawrence, Kan.
The Distinguished Service Award went to Adorna Carroll of Realty Three Inc., in Berlin, Conn., and PeggyAnn McConnochie of ACH Consulting in Juneau, Alaska. They're the 79th and 80th recipients of the DSA Award, respectively.
The William R Magel Award went to Gary Clayton, CEO of Illinois Association of REALTORS®.

REALTOR.com
REALTOR.com President Errol Samuelson gave a report on NAR's official consumer marketing site. The site now incorporates an international site on which U.S. property listings are made available to home buyers in other countries and automatically translated into 11 other languages. He also talked about changes to the site to bring listings and other information to consumers via mobile devices.
Past NAR President Cathy Whatley, who represents NAR on the board of REALTOR.com operator Move Inc., cautioned NAR members against surrendering too much of their data to data aggregators, such as Trulia and Zillow, that can't be counted on to protect their interests.

REALTOR® University
REALTOR® University Board of Regents Chairman Richard Rosenthal of Riverside, Calif., said the university is on track to receive accreditation by the State of Illinois and expects to roll out its first academic program in March 2012. Just under 300 people have submitted an expression of interest to begin studies at the university, far more than the 40 that NAR originally budgeted for. Rosenthal said the university is ready to handle 150 students.
The university's scholarship program has gotten off to a great start as well. State and local associations have pledged more than $250,000 to fund scholarships for students. NAR will be matching the money, bringing the total to more than $500,000. "This will ensure the brightest and best in the industry are encouraged to come to REALTOR® University," Rosenthal said.


Danny Frank
Team Leader
Keller Williams Realty
Office phone: (713)569-8102

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Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources:http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/. And for all of your Pearland, TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit my site at:http://www.danfrankrealty.com. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.


Remember, Danny Frank is always looking to hire new and experienced real estate agents for the team at Keller Williams Are you ready to move to the next level in your career? Call me to join today You can see my entire blog at: http://www.pearlandrealtyblog.com

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CCA Texas Meeting TONIGHT - Bay Area Chapter

06-20-11
Danny Frank, The Real Estate Expert

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Just A Reminder for tonight

CCA Texas

Bay Area Chapter General Membership Meeting TONIGHT!

COME HEAR SHANE BONNOT FROM SEA CENTER TEXAS SPEAK TO OUR CHAPTER!!

Monday, June 20th at 7pm

Mario’s Pizza on Nasa Rd. 1

Ya’ll come on out and join the good time we will be having at Mario’s Pizza on June 20th. We’ve got Shane Bonnot from Sea Center coming to talk to us about his flounder work and cool facts about Sea Center and how it impacts our Texas bays. Sea Center Texas is a one-of-a-kind marine fish hatchery and Visitor’s Center located on 75 acres in Lake Jackson, Texas.

We will have pre-registering for our June 25th Bay Area fishing tournament the day of the meeting.

There is an attachment on this email that is a memo about our fishing tournament, so take a look!

For more information please call Curtis Anderson at 832-435-0257 or Campbell Weber at 713-626-4222 or cweber@ccatexas.org


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Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources: http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/. And for all of your Pearland, TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit my site at: http://www.danfrankrealty.com. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.


Remember, Danny Frank is a local Pearland, TX Real Estate expert! You can see my entire blog at: http://www.pearlandrealtyblog.com

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