A ransomware attack has crippled Rapattoni, a Southern California data host for property listing information.
Santa Rosa-based Bay Area Real Estate Information Service (BAREIS) and other MLSes, who are clients of Rapattoni, fell victim of the cyberattack. This form of cybercrime encrypts the victim’s data and demands a ransom for its release.
The incident left agents from all across the country scrambling for workarounds to navigate the disruption to their marketing and property sales efforts, the North Bay Business Journal first reported.
As a result, some agents around the country are unable to add new property listings, make price adjustments, or even access the latest property information for showings, reported the outlet. It’s also been challenging for agents to keep track of sold properties since the attack as their local MLS system has been out.
Meanwhile, nobody knows when the MLS system will return, Karen “KB” Holmgren, president and CEO of BAREIS, told the newspaper.
In the days which followed the attack, BAREIS set up a backup system to support listing agents. It allows them to submit changes to property listings and for other agents to see the changes. However, agents have been encouraged to call listing agents to double-check information, the North Bay Business Journal reported.
The attack affected approximately 8,200 users of BAREIS. Similar outages occurred at other multiple listing services, such as the San Francisco MLS.
A report by Chainanalysis, a cryptocurrency data firm, highlighted that ransomware attackers extorted around $449.1 million by June, potentially marking their second most profitable year after 2021, the outlet reported.
Several days without MLS access can add up for a brokerage, Gerrett Snedaker, broker at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate|Wine Country Group, told North Bay Business Journal. Somewhat fortunately, he said, August tends to be a slower time in South Californian real estate market.