Thursday, August 17, 2023

At a glance (2 minute read)

  • A US-based MLS® system provider was hit by a ransomware attack.
  • Your Board is reviewing its security, with plans to impliment multifactor authentication.
  • Black Knight, our MLS® system provider, assured that they have mature security measures, 24/7 monitoring, encryption, and upcoming webinar on security.

A major US-based MLS® system provider was crippled by a ransomware attack this week, leaving thousands of REALTORS® across the country without access to the most important home buying and selling tool.

In the wake of this attack, your Board is reviewing internal security measures and ensuring our systems are as robust as possible.

Multifactor authentication (MFA) and robust password requirements

Your login credentials are the first line of defense against cybercriminals. That’s why we implemented more robust password requirements earlier this year.

We’re also working on adding MFA to our login screens, which means you may be prompted to verify your log in by confirming through a secondary code sent by text message or email. We’ve also heard from other service providers that they may be including MFA for their services soon.

More robust password requirements make it more difficult for attackers to hack into the system by using password generators, and MFA makes it more difficult for them to use social engineering techniques to guess and use your password. This helps keep your account, and the MLS®, safe.

Statement from Black Knight, our MLS® system provider

Black Knight sent us the following statement:

Black Knight is aware of the recent cyber security news impacting a major MLS® system provider. The security and integrity of Black Knight products, services and your data are paramount.

Black Knight has mature Information Security, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery programs. The Black Knight ransomware strategy includes detective, preventive and recovery capabilities. These capabilities include, but are not limited to 24 x 7 security monitoring, anti-phishing protections, malware detection, multi factor authentication, offsite backups, encryption strategies and numerous network perimeter controls.

In addition to our already robust security programs, Black Knight has taken additional precautions specifically designed to mitigate the risks associated with the current news and we would like to assure our partners that we are taking all of the necessary steps to prevent these events from affecting our operations. These additional precautions will remain in place until confirmation is received and we can verify that the threat has been eliminated.

In the near future we will be hosting a webinar, featuring our leadership and security team leaders to cover this information and answer any questions you may have.

An additional communication will be sent in the next several days with the webinar information.