Texas Association of REALTORS® (TAR) was recently certified REALTOR® Secure by the National Association of REALTORS®. The certification came with the help of CynergisTek, and it is a well-known certification awarded to organizations that employ security industry best practices, including measures to ensure secure online transactions, secure networks and disaster recovery.

    Mac McMillan, CEO of CynergisTek, stated: "The REALTOR® Secure evaluation process provides the real estate industry with a standards-based framework to look at how data and systems are being protected. The team at TAR approached the evaluation as an opportunity to validate the effectiveness of their practices and learn new strategies for information security as they proceeded through the evaluation process."

    In addition Laura Gass, Texas Association of REALTORS® Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, stated: "CynergisTek proved to be an important partner throughout the evaluation process. They brought a wealth of practical experience, understanding of our industry, and meaningful insights that we can implement to improve our security, and better serve our members. Our organization understands more about information security than we did prior to REALTOR® Secure, and we appreciated CynergisTek's collaborative and instructional approach."

    To recieve a certification, an organization must undergo a rigorous three step process which includes a security self-review, independent third-party evaluation and final approval by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Center for REALTOR® Technology. TAR chose CynergisTek, an information security consulting company which has been approved by NAR as a REALTOR® Secure Third-Party Evaluator, to complete their evaluation.

    McMillan has been scheduled to present a workshop entitled "REALTOR® Secure Boot Camp: Strategies for Securing Realtor Transactions, IT Systems and Data" during TAR's Convention and Trade Expo on the morning of September 10, 2007. The session will highlight the importance of data security, show the attendees the purpose of the REALTOR® Secure program and help them understand how to apply the appropriate standards to their own organizations. CynergisTek is an organization that offers REALTOR® Secure Certification and regulatory compliance solutions for the healthcare, financial services and real estate industries. CynergisTek's other areas of focus include information security management, IT infrastructure design, tool and technology selection, and technology audit services. We bring meaningful and practical insights and guidance to our clients, we are disciplined in our methods, we are responsible stewards of our clients' resources and we are generous in our service.

For more information visit http://texasrealtors.com.