The Suburban Land Agency (SLA) has issued a statement assuring its clients and others dealing with it that it protects their personal information and offers advice on how they can protect it themselves.
The SLA said there were several ways people could identify legitimate SLA communications, including that it would never ask people for their bank details in an unsolicited phone call, SMS or email.
“SLA staff attend compulsory cyber-security training so they can identify attempts to compromise our system,” the SLA said.
“Cyber-protection measures have been implemented to assist our staff in recognising emails from external sources that impersonate the SLA,” it said.
“We keep your information secure and we will also use the information you provide for the purpose of which it was provided for.”
The SLA said people’s information would not be disclosed to other individuals or organisations without their prior consent or unless required by law.
The Agency advised people to protect their personal information by not responding to emails from sources they did not recognise; being cautious of messages that were very enticing or threatening; not clinking on links within emails; and not entering personal information into websites they did not trust.
It also warned Canberrans of recent cyber attacks on a real estate website where customer information may have been compromised.
“There is no direct link between this recent attack and the SLA,” it said.
“Cyber criminals may use personal information obtained through this cyber attack to impersonate real estate agents and/or any party involved in selling or leasing land or property to trick customers into making payments or providing bank details (and other personal information),” the SLA said.
Further information on how the SLA collects and uses client information can be accessed at this PS News link.
