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This holiday season, the national real estate body has launched a campaign to give the industry a leg up against cyber grinches in the coming year.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) shared the rollout of its “12 Days of Cyber-mas” campaign, which aims to help the country’s real estate agents and agencies develop better cyber security in 2023.
Kicked off on 1 December, the campaign entails a rapid response checklist based on the institute and Edith Cowan University’s security key recommendations, which will be posted across its social media channels until 12 December.
As the campaign’s name implies, the checklist will cover the 12 cyber security tips below:
- Do not share passwords
- Use a password keeper and generator app
- Change default credentials of the point-of-sale controller
- Install software updates promptly
- Work with vendors to ensure they follow the same guidelines
- Keep the back-up schedule consistent and maintain off-line back-ups
- Ensure built-in firewalls are switched on for user devices
- Ensure all devices in your business have antivirus software coverage
- Ensure computers used for financial transactions are not used for social media or email
- Use email services that incorporate phishing and pretexting defences
- Develop a cyber security incident response plan
Speaking on the campaign’s launch, REIA president Hayden Groves said that consumers and governments are rightly scrutinising how real estate agents are protecting themselves against cyber security crimes.
With recent cyber attacks across different industries grabbing headlines and affecting millions of Australians, cyber security has been pushed to the front of the priority list of key risks that Australian businesses and government institutions are concerned about.
On 3 November, Harcourts confirmed that a Melbourne City franchisee’s rental property database had been compromised by unauthorised third-party access on 24 October.
Notably, cyber attacks on major players in other industries have also had a ripple effect on the real estate sector. The cyber hacks that hit telecommunications company Optus and Medibank in October have prompted the government to fortify its data protection policies.
But this threat is not just a growing concern, as a new report revealed its hefty financial impact on Aussies and businesses.
In its third annual Cyber Threat Report, released at the start of November, the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) revealed it had received more than 76,000 reports of cyber crime in the 2021 to 2022 financial year — an increase of nearly 13 per cent from the previous financial year.
On average, the figures indicate that one cyber crime report was received every seven minutes, compared to every eight minutes last financial year.
Key findings in the report also showed that there had been a 25 per cent increase in the number of publicly reported software vulnerabilities.
These threats are imposing an increasingly heavy cost on businesses, as data showed financial losses due to business email compromise increased over the year to more than $98 million, with an average cost of $69,000 per report.
The average cost per cyber crime report has risen to around $40,000 for small business, over $88,000 for medium business, and over $62,000 for large business.
Mr Groves said the real estate industry’s significant financial holdings and the sensitive data involved in transactions make it vital for businesses and professionals in the sphere to prioritise protecting against cyber attacks.
“As an industry, we transact around $360 billion in sales each year and collect around $78 billion [in] rents. We also handle and use a lot of confidential personal information. Looking after Australians’ homes and money in the way we do, we must be a cyber security match fit.
“The 12 Days of Cyber-Mas provides 12 key check points for principals to quickly conduct a cyber health check of their businesses ahead of the Christmas break. It is a small investment to protect your business, your staff and your clients and set yourself up for cyber success in the new year,” he stated.
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