Are you putting your customers ’ and our group ’ s data in jeopardy ?
It ' s your responsibility to manage cyber security and alleviate risk
BY ISABELLE WALKER
As you grow your real estate business , even a small security incident can devastate your company ’ s data and local brand .
How much do you trust your devices ? It seems like it ’ s almost daily that we ’ re receiving fake phone calls , text messages and emails with some sinister undertone , designed to entice you to click or follow a link . To what end ? It ’ s always a bit unclear to the average person . To steal money ? Data ? Your identity ?
Hacking has become part of the zeitgeist in recent years - everyone has an experience or story to tell . Famously , hackers have been used for political purposes , and this type of malicious hacking has seeped its way into foreign affairs and security issues .
As a large company with over 15,000 members that relies on a heavily integrated and digitised system , the onus is on us to provide excellent service to our customers to keep their information safe , as well as ours .
Our corporate One System Information Security team works hard behind the scenes to alert both the corporate team and wider network of any potential scams floating around the ether , or when there ’ s an indication of a breach . However , as many large companies in Australia have experienced recently ( Optus , Medibank , and even the real estate industry ’ s Harcourts ), no one is immune .
Simon Horn , Chief Information Security Officer for the Ray White Group , says hackers are part of larger organisations who recruit straight out of university , employ thousands of people and work out of huge facilities . They ’ re a money-making organisation . According to our security team , we ’ re being constantly attacked - 24 hours a day .
Due to the volume of attacks and vulnerability that even the most well-resourced organisations have experienced , it ’ s important to be critically aware of the types of scams out there , and what you can do to prevent them .
Our Information Security team , made up of Simon Horn and Aisha Romilly-Rowe , developed the below cyber security checklist that can help improve your security posture and protect against cyber threats . Using the simple list of possible security review points below can easily prevent a range of threats , attacks and data breaches within your business .
Please have your internal IT leader and your local IT partner review the below and provide a completed checklist . Areas not compliant should be considered for improvement , replacement or policy updates within your office environment .
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