Trevor H. Halpern, J.D.
CEO
Halpern Residential at eXp
Sector: Residential Real Estate
For me, cybersecurity in real estate starts with paying attention to the small moments in a transaction. Clients are moving quickly, sharing documents with multiple parties and looking to their agent for guidance. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that sensitive information needs to stay in the right place. Our job is not to collect every document; it is to help clients use the secure channels already in place.
That comes up most often with financial documents. W-2s, K-1s, tax returns and similar records should go directly to the lender through an encrypted portal, not through standard email or text. With cash buyers, I also remind clients that proof of funds does not need to reveal everything. Account numbers and private details can be redacted; the buyer’s name and enough visible balance to support the purchase are usually what matter.
The biggest risk I see is wire fraud. My advice is simple: Before sending or receiving funds, call the escrow officer directly at a trusted number.
Trevor H. Halpern, J.D., is CEO of Halpern Residential at eXp and eXp Realty’s No. 1 independent agent in Phoenix. A Phoenix native and ASU College of Law graduate, Halpern is known for his high-level strategy, sharp negotiation skills and precise tactical execution. Since 2011, he has closed more than $350 million in sales.
Kyle Malo
Vice President of Cybersecurity
Avnet
Sector: Technology Distribution
The emergence of advanced AI tools designed to accelerate automation and decision-making also raises the bar for bad actors — enabling faster attacks, more convincing social engineering and rapid exploitation of vulnerabilities. We see this evolution in every industry, though it is an elevated threat in tech specifically. To stay ahead, Avnet is focused on two key strategies.
First, we are significantly increasing our patching cadence. By shortening the window between vulnerability disclosure and remediation, we reduce the opportunity for AI-augmented threat actors to exploit newly identified weaknesses at scale.
Second, we are deploying AI-driven detection and response capabilities across our security platforms. These enhancements allow us to monitor threat intelligence in near real time, correlate activity at machine speed and automate response actions. This is critical as attackers increasingly leverage AI to move faster and operate more dynamically.
Together, these efforts ensure we can match — and in many cases outpace — the speed and sophistication of emerging AI-enabled threats.
Kyle Malo is vice president of Cybersecurity at Avnet, leading global security strategy for the Fortune 200 technology distributor. He partners with executive leadership and customers to protect complex supply chain environments while aligning cybersecurity with business growth.
David Wachs
Founder and CEO
Handwrytten
Sector: Business Services
Cyber security has become a greater concern the larger we have grown. We are SOC2-compliant, which is a security standard for larger firms that requires us to implement a number of security measures. Some of our top, easy to implement strategies have been:
- Upgrading our email filter. By default, Microsoft 365 comes with basic email filtering, reducing the number of phishing attempts you receive. However, this can be reduced drastically further through their upgraded “Defender for Business” program. It is a small extra charge for dramatically improved email security.
- Annual team training. All members of our team are required to take online courses for “social engineering” and other techniques used by bad actors. As the team is on the front line, this too has reduced our exposure.
- A good cyber security insurance policy. Now mandated by many of our clients, we carry multi-millions in “Cyber” insurance. Expensive but necessary.
- Computer security posture monitoring. As part of SOC2, we are required to report on the security patches on each computer, along with if each computer has disk encryption and other basic security features implemented. Just having this simple reporting allows us to reduce our attack surface.
A proven entrepreneur, David Wachs’ latest venture, Handwrytten, provides scalable, robotic solutions that write clients’ notes in pen. Used by businesses in all industries and nonprofits, Handwrytten changes the way brands and people connect. Wachs is a speaker on marketing technology, has been featured in The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, and is a contributor to Inc. Magazine.
Prior to Handwrytten, Wachs founded Cellit, a leading mobile marketing platform. With clients that included Abercrombie & Fitch, Walmart and more, Cellit was sold in January of 2012. Both Handwrytten and Cellit were on Inc. Magazine’s Inc 500 list of fastest-growing companies.
