Darktrace, a global leader in cyber security artificial intelligence, today announced that RioCan, one of Canada’s largest real estate investment trusts, has selected Darktrace to defend “The Well,” Canada’s most ambitious multi-use real estate project.

Set to open in 2023, The Well will host approximately 11,000 people daily. Located in downtown Toronto, this expansive development will comprise more than 200 retail, commercial, and residential spaces across 7.7 acres of land.

RioCan selected Darktrace’s DETECT and RESPOND technologies in 2021 to defend Network and Cloud infrastructure across its commercial office spaces and retail property investments. The property investor is now deploying Darktrace’s AI to defend this three-million-square-foot project in Toronto from sophisticated and disruptive cyber-threats.

As cyber-crime proliferates, attackers continue to target real estate organizations both to exfiltrate confidential data, including the financial information of property buyers and sellers, and to disrupt operations and demand hefty ransoms from investors and agents. With AI-powered defenses, RioCan is able to protect its IT estate as well as its operational technology, including elevators, thermostats, and appliances.

“Central to the success of TheWell is a world-class tenant experience,” commented George Ho, Vice President of Informational Technology at RioCan. “The experience we’ve created for our visitors and tenants relies on a significant technology infrastructure, from light switches and thermostats to security systems, which is reliable and will work uninterrupted. The best thing about Darktrace’s AI is that it learns every detail of both our information and operational technology so that we can minimize any disruptions to our normal business operations in the event of a cyber security incident. That is the future of security.”

“As operations and services at shopping malls and public projects become increasingly digitized, threat actors are poised to take advantage and the need for powerful, precise protection is amplified,” said David Masson, Director of Enterprise Security at Darktrace. “By expanding Darktrace’s coverage to include The Well, RioCan has complete visibility of emerging threats and can instantly contain these using AI-driven technology which understands the business.”

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