Tenants warned after cyber attack

Residents have been warned their personal data may have been compromised after a property management firm fell victim to a cyber attack.

Those living on estates managed by the Property Management Company (PMC) in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire were sent a letter yesterday outlining a possible data breach after a member of staff fell victim to a phishing attack.

While, thus far, there is no evidence to show whether any data has been taken, residents have been advised to review log-in details and passwords.

PMC managing director Richard Burnett said the incident revolved around a single email account belonging to a staff member.

However, that person also has access to a shared mailbox and it is possible this may also have been accessed as a result of the breach.

The Oldmeldrumbased company became aware of the attack when a series of emails were sent from the compromised staff member’s account, very similar in appearance to the offending mail the staff member had previously received.

Immediate steps were taken to prevent further access to the staff member’s computer, which was initially thought to have fallen victim to a virus.

However, further investigation revealed the cloud-hosted email account had, in fact, been accessed and used by an unauthorised third party. PMC changed the password, which has stopped ongoing access.

The firm’s external IT support provider has confirmed no further unauthorised login attempts had been made.

In a letter to customers, Mr Burnett apologised and added: “We are doing all we can to remedy this situation and ensure this does not occur in the future.”