How the RE/MAX cyberattack exposed customer data and what it means for you

POPULAR real estate company, RE/MAX fell victim to a cyberattack which resulted in customer data being exposed to the hackers.

- ASHLEY LECHMAN

RE/MAX has fallen victim to a significant cyberattack, resulting in the exposure of customer data. In a series of emails, the hacker threatens to extort the company, prompting a response from CEO Adrian Goslett, who outlines the company's actions and reassures franchisees. I SUPPLIED

In emails seen by Business Report, the hacker sent the following message to company in an attempt to extort the real estate company for money.

The hacker wrote in an email, "Hai , Good morning Yes we have your complete database the total 291GB , Please let us know your offer, also The $3 bucket data is also with us only your deal files and all other whatever was deleted we have complete backup of those , if you want proof we can share you . And Please let us know your offer! Your Friendly Hacker Pal!"

Furthermore, in an email sent to RE/MAX franchisee owners by Adrian Goslett CEO and Regional Director RE/ MAX Southern Africa, following the data breach, confirming the incident, he said, "Dear Franchisee,RE/MAX has been the victim of a cyberattack that was executed through our public-facing website. As confirmed by our technical team, the intrusion involved a brute-force attack followed by SQL injection, which allowed the threat actors to access certain internal systems and extract information."

The company then acted swiftly, releasing a statement informing the public about the data breach.

RE/MAX confirmed that there was a recent information security incident that may have affected personal information stored on our systems.