Info Security Magazine reported that a California property management company with over 30 properties has been targeted by data thieves operating out of the San Diego area. An online leasing database belonging to Wolfe & Associates, Property Services was compromised by cyber-criminals in a data breach that may have occurred as many as six months ago.
The company was unaware that a breach had taken place until it was notified by the Santa Barbara Police Department on March 5th.
According to a statement released April 3rd by Wolf & Associates, hackers obtained rental applications, which may contain applicants’ personal information such as name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, and addresses. Wolf & Associates are working with authorities to determine the extent of the information that was obtained.
Cybersecurity Threats – On the Rise in the Multifamily Industry
This incident underscores the importance of protecting your multifamily properties and corporate office from cyber security threats. In order to stay ahead of these growing threats, there are multiple layers that need to be applied to truly protect your management company. Learn more about what you can do to protect your management company by reading our latest blog. Here is list of best practices which every company should implement immediately.
- Invest in Cyber Security Training for your staff.
- Turn on multi-factor authentication for your email as extra precaution.
- Invest in email and web filtering software to block phishing email and sites.
- Invest in good endpoint protection software to stop cryptoware.
- Invest in business class networking hardware which detects and prevents intrusions.
If you don't have an internal IT team, we HIGHLY recommend partnering with an outsourced managed IT support company that specializes in multifamily and cybersecurity to help you with these best practices. Read our buyer's guide on how to assess and pick the right outsourced managed IT company that meets your multifamily IT support needs.
