A day in the life of an Estate Agent and his personal online security
As Estate Agents in Daventry, It certainly can be interesting. Annoying even, if your Facebook account gets hacked and stolen. Online security is a big thing in any business.
Digitally, we hold a lot of information and our security is top notch. In any spacecraft, you would find our military-grade protected cloud storage and anti-viral software. Our protective measures for our clients information are up there with the best. But, sometimes the personal element of online security can be lacking.
After my personal Facebook account was hacked and stolen (we missed the warning emails from FB), I can strongly emphasize the importance of tightening up security. Having what I though was a reasonable level of firmness in my passwords clearly did not help. Now, I have opened my eyes after researching what should be done and used.
Even more of a pain, is that once its gone, Facebook are next to impossible to communicate with. They simply do not care.
What has this to do with Selling a House?
Well, quite a bit. In todays world most of any property transaction is conducted digitally. Not on Facebook of course but remotely with Solicitors and Mortgage lenders. When selling your property, you may need to create accounts for secure documents. These need passwords and a user name, typically an email address.
With such sensitive information speeding about in the ethernet, they can become targets. Hackers want the easy in and look to obtain basic information to then be able to grab more.
Companies often sell typical personal email addresses for a very low price, especially if you’ve made purchases through them before. Marketing companies make big money from selling the data. Hackers chance there arm at studying public profiles and working out access passwords.
What can we do to improve Online Security?
Well, firstly, lets understand the facts :-
- 80% of online breaches are the result of weak or reused passwords.
- In 2022, over 24 Billion passwords were exsposed by Hackers.
- 6 out of 10 people re-use passwords.
- 25% of people have never renewed a password.
- 96% of common passwords can be cracked in under 1 second by hacking software.
The list goes on and on, click here for more info from Norton to see the scary numbers.
To minimise the risk of your accounts, business or personal, being hacked, Password security is the key. Here are some pointers to help :-
- Do not use personal information in your password i.e. birthdays, kids names. They can all be found somewhere.
- Use a different password for every account you have.
- Where possible, use 2 factor authentication for an extra level of security.
- Increase your password length. 16 digits min where possible. Don’t use words. letters, numbers and symbols make it very difficult for the bad guys.
- Avoid common words and make it abstract.
- Check your accounts regularly and change your password annually.
- Use a password manager. It may need a minimal subscription annually, but will keep your passwords in one space and secure. It may also advise on the best passwords to use.
Click here for more useful pointers – Password safety
Selling your Home in Daventry or the surrounding areas
If you are using a Daventry Estate Agent to sell your home, or considering moving home in the next few months, ask you agent about tips on online security. Call me, David Bruckert at Skilton & Hogg Estate Agents for free advice on the matter. Having worked in the industry for 20 years I have overseen thousands of property sales. If you are looking for more information on the local property market, we are happy help. You can see our homes for sale here.
The best advice I can offer right now – go and change all of your passwords. I have.
