Scam: Real estate is not immune to cyber scams
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Loading... - Scarlett Lawrence
- 09 Feb 2023
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Over the past decade, government, finance and retail businesses have become a common target for cybercriminals. However, other sectors are also at risk.
One such unexpected target is real estate, a sector that has recently caught the attention of hackers as an easy-to-grasp data source.
Phishing, hacking, wire fraud, online hackers are increasingly targeting real estate companies, and as a result, the attack vector has increased significantly.
The real estate industry doesn't immediately bring up data security, password management, or networking. However, it is important to take into account the amount of personal data stored in the networks of real estate companies. From contracts to personal information to bank accounts, the data circulating in the real estate sector is much more exposed than one could imagine.
Nowadays, real estate agents collaborate with state-of-the-art platforms that make their job easier. However, these tools also increase exposure to different security risks, including outdated software, limited password policies, and system vulnerability.
Why is the real estate sector an attractive target?
The real estate industry accounts for a large number of financial transactions that involve sensitive information. This information includes confidential details like bank account numbers and personal data of prospects usually stored online. However, even by hosting this data in the cloud, no one is immune to attacks by online hackers.
In 2019, a cybersecurity journalist informed the American financial services and real estate insurance services giant, First American, that their application was quite vulnerable and could expose more than 800 million images of titles and of escrow documents dating back to 2003, including images containing sensitive personal data.
Easy to attack targets
Many real estate companies are not up to date with the latest security risks, which can then become an easy target for hackers. In general, the real estate industry is less security conscious than other industries, lending itself to a weaker security posture.
Governments and financial regulators require some level of compliance or security policy from certain industries. Conversely, the real estate industry has relatively less oversight and has not considered legislation requiring affected companies to adopt policies to protect their customer data or network systems and resources. Read More…
