Property buyers are calling for an urgent review into the data-hack at the Simplify group which has “created mayhem” in property chains across the UK.
A number of property sales have been halted as a result of the cyber-security incident at the company, which delivers conveyancing services for a number of estate agents.
The National Association of Property Buyers (NAPB) wants to see a probe launched by legal watchdogs to reduce the chances of people falling victim in the same way again.
Jonathan Rolande, of the NAPB, said: “The cyber-attack on Simplify is the latest example of how criminals are increasingly targeting the property sector.
“This hack created mayhem and misery for many people. There have been calls for a government-led inquiry into the matter. But this is an issue for the Law Society who need to now urgently review what has happened and alter regulations to cover 21st Century Issues.
“The hack at Simplify underlines how modern times create modern problems. Whilst it is great we can send thousands of transactions instantly across the globe, this depressing episode exposes what happens when we can’t.”
Rolande believes that there are a number of important lessons to learn from the Simplify case.
He added: “When the Simplify Group was unable to work it wasn’t just a problem with software, it was a problem with people. Many of the most common complaints I was told about were not that contracts failed to be exchanged, it was that customers didn’t know what had happened.
“Ringing a customer and letting them know the current situation would have helped enormously. This is even more important with a house sale – someone’s home is a basic necessity. Why were customers ignored when basic phone systems still were functional?
“Disaster planning and emergency management is an essential aspect of business. So why was there no Plan B for the Simplify Group? Whilst many things will inevitably go wrong we should focus on recovery and what was learnt from this and we can only hope that a disaster plan is now in place.
“Penetration testing to ensure that systems are secure should be part of a regular schedule to check for vulnerabilities in systems, this is especially important given the speed of technology and the scale of recent cyber attacks.”
The IT attack is now the focus of a criminal investigation, but Simplify Group insist that the group is not aware of “personal data being compromised” and assured clients that “money held by us is safe and secure, and is held in an entirely separate system”.
A Simplify spokesperson said: “We had several days at the beginning of the outage with minimal telephone capacity but we now have hundreds of colleagues making calls to clients and this team are calling every client with an update.
“We regret any uncertainty and disruption that our clients and others may have experienced over the past couple of weeks and now look forward to restoring confidence in our services as we progress their home moves through to completion.”
Police called in to investigate cyber-security incident at conveyancing firm
What action has CLC taken to ensure each and every buyer who felt/feels disgruntled at the impact on the legal service provided to them receive financial compensation?
Who is reporting on that outcome?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
This is still an ongoing problem. Good to hear that they are apparently all getting update calls but much of the substantive legal work is still to be done on files according to the clients who have spoken to us this week. I don’t think they are out of the woods yet.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
HANG ON A MINUTE…
This headline is a tad misleading, to say the least.
The ‘property buyers’ the article / PR puff-piece refers to are those that feed on desperate sellers – not those 0000s that are actually stuck in chains affected by the problems that Simplify have fallen under. The “we can buy your home in ten minutes” brigade. So – unless they have their eggs in the Simplify basket like so many others (in which case they will be guilty of feasting on the referral fee income and adding to the problem), they will be absolutely salivating at the prospects this issue could be delivering straight to their plates.
These companies relish problems – it helps them nail prices down further so there is more profit in the deal for them. And at a time when their ‘services’ for the vast majority will have been pretty much needed like a sore backside in a sitting competition, they obviously see an opportunity to remind the homesellers of our nation they are still there.
Unfortunately.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
That the Simplify saga is still running without any answers being provided to the rest of the profession, let alone to clients, is something of a national disgrace in conveyancing circles. The people that run these Companies should be hanging their heads in shame over the whole fiasco – not once have I seen any of the faceless heads of these Companies make any public pronouncements, no explanation and no apologies. I hope they all find themselves out of a job in the near future, the way they have left their staff to take all the heat and face all the complaints and abuse is disgraceful. Missing in action.
Even the Conveyancing Association, never backwards in coming forwards with a good press release to show their members in as good a light as possible, have been conspicuous by their absence. Unfortunately the Law Society abdicated responsibility to take action years ago so they will not do anything about the mess, whilst the CLC have simply been shown as inept and obsequious and will be desperately hoping they can sweep the whole situation under a very thick carpet as soon as possible.
In an ideal world one would like to think there would be a high level enquiry given the large number of questions this all asks, and the plethora of flaws which have come to light with the approach and the working practices of these factory conveyancers, the referral fees they pay, and the complete lack of a serious Regulatory Body to protect clients strong armed their way. You would hope at best the Simplify group will break up, referral fees will be outlawed, and the CLC will cease to exist, with all conveyancing brought under one professional Regulatory Board made up of conveyancers who actually know the professional way in which their peers should operate and will take action when those standards are not met.
Do I think the above will happen? No I don’t, pigs do not fly and too many vested interests will ensure it does not. Clients do not seem to matter, standards certainly do not. So until the next time…..
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register