“Is My Data Safe?”
During the Covid19 lockdowns, online scams surged. This could mainly be because of the rise in the number of people working from home. New statistics show that online phishing scams are on the increase in New Zealand, with nearly four out of five New Zealanders being targeted by some form of scam, and nearly a quarter falling victim to one.
A Warning to NZ Businesses
BNZ Bank research shows that one in five New Zealanders believe organisations aren’t doing enough to keep their personal data safe. The rising tide of scams is affecting New Zealanders’ confidence in the companies and the organisations they use.
Businesses are generally doing a reasonable job of protecting client data, and businesses need to work hard to honour the trust their customers put in them to protect personal data.
Top scams targeting New Zealanders:
- Scams masquerading as government services or departments 20%
- Remote access scam 35%
- Inheritance scam 20%
- Crypto currency investment scams 16%
- Invoicing scams targeting businesses generate the most losses
- One in ten people are hesitant about going online for fear of being scammed
You can find some useful tools to help protect yourself from scams at www.getscamsavvy.co.nz
“Is My Money Safe?”
What security does managemyproperty offer to ensure that rent payments are secure and protected from fraud and scams? That’s a question that more people are asking these days. Below are the answers to most of the questions people ask about transaction security, data back-up and overall protection. In plain and simple terms, you can be confident that managemyproperty has a comprehensive security protection strategy in place.
Money & Transactions
- Your Rent Money – rents are paid directly into, and held, in a Commercial Trust Account, protected by ASB Bank’s security systems. Multifactor authentication and two person approval processes are in place for access and payments
- Cash Handling – simply, we don’t touch cash. It’s been company policy for over ten years that we do not accept rent payments, bond payments, or cash to pay supplier invoices. All transactions are done through ASB Bank and so are fully recorded and traceable.
- Cyber Security Policy – our team is regularly trained in identifying the many forms of scam and ransom attacks. This includes verbally verifying bank and personal data directly with Owners and Suppliers before a first transaction
Data Protection
- Your Personal and Rental Property data – managemyproperty uses a cloud based Trust Accounting system through our NZ provider, Palace. All Palace data is backed up on a regular basis and we have access to backed-up data if necessary. All your data is held and looked after by Microsoft Azure (Microsoft Cloud Services) who supply data centres in Australia East and Australia Southeast.
- General Systems Access – multifactor authentication on all external and internal software services and systems. Firewall protection is provided by ESET antivirus and security suite which is installed on all company hardware.
- Passwords – managemyproperty uses LastPass as a secure passwords vault and password generator. Passwords are changed at least every six months as a policy
- Data Backup – all backups are secure and implement best practices. Your data is cipher encrypted and password protected behind a robust firewall. Our database and Trust Account banking is constantly updated and backed up several times each day.
- Tenant’s Data – our application process is provided by Tenancy Practice Service (TPS) and is fully compliant with the Privacy Act. Personal details of tenancy applicants are stored and managed on our behalf by TPS.
Other Protections
- Insurance – managemyproperty has Cyber Insurance cover through Vero with a robust policy based on security industry protocols that is constantly updated. By following Vero’s guidance, our Client Owners benefit from stronger protection too.
- Trades and Suppliers – all our providers are fully checked and accredited through a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to ensure that their trade qualifications are up to date, and they have Public Liability insurance. The SLA records business identifiers such as GST number, NZBN number and company registration. It’s a requirement that we sight each supplier’s Health & Safety At Work policy, and that they fully understand our H&S processes too.
Call or email us with any other questions and concerns you may have about online security and data protection.
