under a guaranty. We may elect to fund cash needs of a joint venture through equity contributions (generally on a basis proportionate to our ownership interests), advances or partner loans, although such fundings are not typically required contractually or otherwise. General Risk Factors We face risks associated with security breaches through cyber-attacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our information technology (IT) networks and related systems. Our IT networks and related systems are essential to the operation of our business and our ability to perform day- to-day operations and, in some cases, may be critical to the operations of certain of our tenants. We face risks associated with security breaches, whether through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusions over the Internet, malware, computer viruses, hardware or software corruption or failure or poor product or vendor/developer selection (including a failure of security controls incorporated into or applied to such hardware or software), service provider error or failure, intentional or unintentional actions by employees (including the failure to follow our security protocols) and other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems. Although we make efforts to maintain the security and integrity of these types of IT networks and related systems, including making recent upgrades to our IT programs through significant capital investment, and we have implemented various measures to manage the risk of a security breach or disruption, there can be no assurance that our security efforts and measures will be effective or that attempted security breaches or disruptions would not be successful or damaging. Even the most well protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques used in such attempted security breaches evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, and in some cases are designed not to be detected and, in fact, may not be detected. Accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate security barriers or other preventative measures, and thus it is impossible for us to entirely mitigate this risk. We may also face significant disruptions due to natural disasters or other critical incidents. The risk of a security breach or significant disruption has generally increased due to our increased reliance on technology, a rise in the number, intensity, and sophistication of attempted attacks globally, and the permanent nature of remote work as business travel has resumed and people now routinely work remotely outside of normal business hours. A breach or significant and extended disruption in the functioning of our systems, including our primary website, could damage our reputation and cause us to lose customers, tenants and revenues, generate third party claims, cause operational disruption, result in the unintended and/or unauthorized public disclosure or the misappropriation of proprietary, personal identifying and/or confidential information, and require us to incur significant expenses to address and remediate or otherwise resolve these kinds of issues. We may not be able to recover these expenses in whole or in any part from our service providers or responsible parties, or their or our insurers. Additionally, cyber-attacks perpetrated against our tenants, including unauthorized access to customers’ credit card data and other confidential information, could diminish consumer confidence and spending at our tenants, or negatively impact consumer perception of shopping at our properties, all of which could materially and adversely affect us. An increased focus on metrics and reporting related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors, may impose additional costs and expose us to new risks. Investors and other stakeholders have become more focused on understanding how companies address a variety of ESG factors. As they evaluate investment decisions, many investors look not only at company disclosures but also to ESG rating systems that have been developed by third parties to allow ESG comparisons among companies. Although we participate in a number of these ratings systems, we do not participate in all such systems. The criteria used in these ratings systems may conflict and change frequently, and we cannot predict how these third parties will score us, nor can we have any assurance that they score us accurately or other companies accurately or that other companies have provided them with accurate data. We supplement our participation in ratings systems with published disclosures of our ESG activities, but some investors may desire other disclosures that we do not provide. In addition, the SEC is currently evaluating potential rule making that could mandate additional ESG disclosure and impose other requirements on us. Failure to participate in certain of the third party ratings systems, failure to score well in those ratings systems or failure to provide certain ESG disclosures could result in reputational harm when investors compare us to other companies, and could cause certain investors to be unwilling to invest in our stock which could adversely impact our stock price.
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