You Buy/They Lie!
Cybersecurity incidents take place every day, however, the frequency and nature of attacks is becoming more and more sophisticated.
Remember LinkedIn's Massive Data Breach earlier this year? On June 22, a user on a famous hacker site announced that nearly 700 million people’s data is up for sale. The hacker shared a sample of 1 million LinkedIn members' email addresses, full names, phone numbers, addresses and geolocations
Locally, in May 2021 hospital computer systems and phone lines run by the Waikato District Health Board (DHB) were affected by a ransomware attack. An unidentified group claimed responsibility for the hack and issued an ultimatum to the Waikato DHB, having obtained sensitive data about patients, staff and finances. The Waikato DHB and New Zealand Government ruled out paying the ransom.
With hackers banking on the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 came with a whole new level of cybersecurity threats. Data breaches like these show the harsh reality of the world we live in. Seemingly, no one is immune.
Cybersecurity is at high stakes. By now, the list of data breach victims is filled with major corporations, government agencies, social media sites, restaurant chains, and every other industry you can think of. Property Management is no exception or immune to these attacks.
With the outbreak of recent Cyber-attacks across all industries we wanted you to be aware of so that you can be extra vigilant at this time. We encourage all our customers to have heightened awareness around the following:
- If people call you posing as a credible organisation and request access to your computer, always say no. If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of an email or request from our company, please contact your Property Manager directly.
- We will never send an email or text with links to online banking. We would never send you an email last minute for rent payments to be made or changed to a different account other that that stipulated on our tenancy agreement - ASB 12-3110-0018416-04
- Never click on any links that looks suspicious and never provide your passwords, or any personal or financial information. Use strong and unique passwords.
- Never give money, credit card details or online account details to anyone you don't know and trust.
- Don't give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn't expect. Resist the pressure to act immediately. Always check first.
- Always apply online for a Property through Renti, our online Rental Portal
- Never leave keys at a property unattended or give keys to anyone other than your Property Manager or an employee of The Rent Shop
- If you suspect deceit, hit delete
- If it blinks, it stinks. Look out for malicious plug-ins and fake updates
- Restart is Smart!
- If you find something, say something
Verify, verify, verify
If the old real-estate adage “location, location, location” was applied to cybersecurity, it would translate as “verify, verify, verify”. There is no harm in verifying the authenticity of a suspicious email, message or voicemail and it could save you from a devastating breach.
