Media Release 22 August 2017 REA Group releases guide to protect real estate industry from cyber-crime

REA Group has released a security guide to help protect Australia's real estate industry from cyber- crime.

With more businesses moving to a digital model, data, software and personal information is increasingly becoming exposed to online hackers. The guide aims to educate real estate agents about the risks they face when operating online, and provides information on how to protect their business from a number of common security threats.

An industry-first, the guide has been re-produced in collaboration with the Australian Government's 'Stay Smart Online' initiative.

Craig Templeton, REA Group's Chief Information Security Officer, commented: "Cyber-crime has no boundaries on the internet. We're operating in the same online environment as our customers, so the risks that affect us can also affect them.

"We want to help educate our customers about some of the risks they face online, and provide them with some simple actions they can take to protect their business today. By putting the right processes in place to protect ourselves and our customers from cyber-crime, we're also protecting the wider real estate industry," Mr Templeton said.

Five key ways that real estate agents can protect themselves and their business are:

  1. Create good passphrases for all online accounts and enable two-step verification (when available) for additional protection.

  2. Train your staff to understand the importance of privacy and teach them how to spot suspicious emails.

  3. Make sure your website has a padlock symbol in your browser address bar and 'https' at the start of the website address.

  4. Keep your software up to date and back up your data to a separate location.

  5. Protect mobile devices with pins and avoid conducting sensitive activities on public Wi-Fi hotspots.

REA Group's Small Business Security Guide for Australian Real Estate Agents is now available for download.

-ends- For more information:

Lucy Murray, Corporate Affairs Advisor lucy.murray@rea-group.com

Mob: +61 411 251 933

About REA Group Limited: (www.rea-group.com): REA Group Limited ACN 068 349 066 (ASX:REA) ("REA Group") is a multinational digital advertising business specialising in property. REA Group operates Australia's leading residential and commercial property websites, realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au, Chinese property site myfun.com and a number of property portals in Asia via its ownership of iProperty Group. REA Group also owns Smartline Home Loans Pty Ltd, an Australian mortgage broking franchise group, and holds a significant shareholding in property websites Move, Inc in the US and PropTiger in India.

REA Group Limited published this content on 22 August 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 August 2017 04:42:09 UTC.

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