Perpetuating the nail-biting suspense of a horror movie, it’s a silent enemy that could infiltrate your business at any moment.
Increasingly active in the Real Estate space, cybercrime is wreaking havoc with more and more unsuspecting victims.
But why the property sector and why you?
The reality is, the property industry has a unique set of weaknesses that open doors for criminals to skim data, redirect funds and disable computer systems with raging success.
In early 2023 Sebastian Mill, leading Australian SaaS technology platform ‘InfoTrack’s Chief financial Officer, outlined the growing risk to the industry, not only for business owners but their clients as well.
“If your clients suffer financial loss, you could be liable, leading to professional negligence lawsuits, increased indemnity insurance premiums, and reputational damage,” he cautioned.
Unlike other industries, the volume of identification, banking and personal information held by Real Estate businesses is a magnet for identity theft.
Additionally on a financial level, whilst you are feverishly peddling property, your high value transactions are being funnelled through various bank accounts and settlement platforms that are attracting unwanted attention from willing cyber criminals who know where to look.
And that ‘cloud’ that was apparently the answer to everything ‘storage’ – it’s now the key to the holy hacker grail.
So, what do these threats look like and how do you safeguard against them?
The most common trends in recent data seem to suggest the following are the most common:
Wire Fraud – Email communications between buyers, sellers, agents, and lawyers targeted to manipulate transactions and redirect funds to fraudulent accounts.
Ransomware Attacks – Malware installed to encrypt computer data, effectively locking systems – only restored once a monetary ransom is paid.
Malware – Viruses, spyware or worms maliciously installed to facilitate unwanted actions on a computer.
Phishing Schemes – The sending of seemingly legitimate emails to elicit sensitive information such as confidential login details.
As the sophistication of cyber breaches grows, it’s apparent these invisible pirates get smarter at the same rate as the technology.
According to a study by KPMG, as of 2023 30% of organisations had fallen prey to cybercrimes in the past two years with only 50% of participants believing they had sufficient resources to mitigate a cybersecurity event.
So, what can you do to protect your business?
There’s no doubt the threat is real and ‘protection is the best prevention’.
The lesson here – know your enemy and keep them close.
Confidential Conversation
If you’d like a confidential chat about how the ONE AGENCY model and ONE PLACE can help you to make more and keep more in ‘24, book a call today.
Paul Davies is the founder and CEO of One Agency, which has more than 150 businesses throughout Australasia. During his 50-plus years in the industry, Paul’s biggest single insight is: it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep that counts.
If you love what you do but want to make a change – either to keep more of what you earn, shift to a more lifestyle focused operation and reduce running costs; I invite you to contact me at One Agency and discuss confidentially how our model, (less than $1000 + GST per month regardless of your GCI) may be just the answer to breathe new life into your career and future proof yourself.
“It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep that counts.”
‒ Paul Davies, Founder and CEO
Revised edition: Written by our Founder and CEO Paul Davies with a foreword by leading real estate coach and trainer Tom Panos, ‘How To Profit In Real Estate Business Ownership’ is compulsive reading for established and aspiring agents looking for a way to achieve success and maximise fee retention.
As founder and CEO of the fastest growing real estate network across Australasia, I offer real estate professionals an opportunity to reap the financial rewards of going it alone with the security and clout of an established brand. Talk to me and my team about your options.
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One Agency is a revolution in real estate, empowering both individual real estate professionals and established agencies to take control of their future and bring an entirely new level of service to clients.
