Keeping cyber safe has never been more important

Real Estate

Team MONEYME|19 July 2022| 2-minute read

The UK Government has been hit with a $919,000 fine after more than 1000 New Year Honour recipients had their home addresses leaked online back in 2019. It’s the latest in a string of data breaches to drive home the lesson of lax cyber security. What are some of the key takeaways for real estate agents working online?

Keep it secret, keep it safe

It’s not exactly how you hope to ring in the new year… finding out that your personal address had been shared online. But in 2019 that’s exactly what happened to Elton John, Nadiya Hussain, and cricketer Ben Stokes not to mention over a thousand others. 

The uploaded file was online for a total of two hours and 21 minutes but that’s all it took. In that time the data was accessed 3,872 times, which is why the UK government copped close to $1 million in fines.

It seems almost daily that a new data breach or online scam is making headlines. In May 2021 hackers broke into Domain. After stealing the digital equivalent of the “family jewels” aka personal contact details, hackers attempted to trick people by asking them to pay a ‘deposit’ to secure a rental property.

Securing your customer’s data

For every agency that uses online forms and building that uses fancy computer systems – cyber security should be top of the to-do list. Companies need to be constantly updating their security to make sure not even Jason Bourne can break in. 

In 2019 REA Group, the owners of 1form upped their security by introducing two-factor authentication for log-ins. Real estate agencies earning more than $3 million a year now have to comply with the Privacy Act, which means they are obligated to keep customers’ data away from prying eyes. 

The fallout from a cyber attack can be brutal. For starters there are the financial costs, on its own, the Federal Court can issue fines of up to $2.1 million. Then there are the reputational damages to consider. People hand over their information on the basis of trust. Screw it up, and you risk losing that trust and the business that comes with it.

Key Takeaways: 

• Make sure that you’re aware of your agency’s data security practices so that you can guarantee customers the protection of their data.
• Treat your customer’s data like you would your own. A cybersecurity breach can be both embarrassing and costly.

Looking for a better payment option for your clients? Head to our partner page to become a ListReady partner.