dhollier@imfpubs.com

Fannie Mae has issued a list of frequently asked questions describing a tool that allows lenders to limit which of their employees can access the GSE’s technology. The tool, called IP Address Restrictions, will block access unless the request was initiated from lender-specified IP addresses.

Fannie introduced the feature in May as part of an ongoing corporate priority to help its partners increase their cybersecurity.

According to the GSE, both corporate and user administrators can enable IP Address Restrictions through their Technology Manager function. However, if the firm has both CAs and UAs, only the CAs will be able to view or update the allowable IP addresses. On the plus side, there is no cost for using this feature. The feature is inactive by default.

For Fannie customers that use a virtual private network, it’s possible to register those VPN public addresses as the allowable IP addresses. This will force users to access Fannie technology through the VPN.

For more details, see the new edition of Inside The GSEs, now available online.